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England players have been shown Calcutta Cup video nasties for extra motivation as they seek to end a miserable run against Scotland on Saturday.
Steve Borthwick’s side will bid for a first win against the auld enemy in five years buoyed by their one-point victory against France last time out. But the head coach is waiting on the second-row George Martin, who did not take part in full training on Monday because of discomfort in his knee.
Scotland are the only Six Nations side England have yet to beat under Borthwick after they clinched a 29-23 victory in the head coach’s first match in charge in 2023 before prevailing 30-21 at Murrayfield last year. Tom Curry has revealed there has been an “edginess” to training this week as England seek a victory that would keep their Six Nations title hopes alive and his fellow back-rower Ben Earl explained how the squad have been shown video clips as they bid to stop Scotland’s four-match winning run.
“We’ve watched some of that back, we’ve learnt some lessons,” Earl said. “We’re not going to be short of motivation, that’s for sure. There will be a unit meeting and we’ll be told that they mauled us for 7.1 metres per maul last year … that’s not a great stat for the forward pack, is it? It’s stuff like that, dropping that in. We know that there’s a job to do and that might contribute to the feeling we’ve got in the group at the moment.”
Two years ago, Duhan van der Merwe ran riot at Twickenham, beating five defenders on the way to the tryline before the South Africa-born winger racked up a hat-trick at Murrayfield 12 months ago. For Earl, the Twickenham defeat was particularly painful and prompted some soul-searching as he soon found himself dropped from Borthwick’s squad while the defeat last year was a line-in-the-sand moment, sparking England into changing their attacking approach.
“It is [difficult to watch] but I’m a big believer that those are the kind of games where you learn the harshest lessons,” Earl said. “I distinctly remember 2023 Scotland at home was a big turning point for me in. That was a time where the penny really dropped and I felt I had to learn some lessons. It’s something I’ve looked back on and am almost grateful for. But it’s never nice. [I learned] I was unfit, that I didn’t know what it takes to become a top-class international rugby player, I didn’t know what it took to play under Steve. Some harsh lessons but nothing I’d change.
“It’s not necessarily unfit in terms of physiologically. It’s like, ‘I’m shattered, can I keep going?’ is a different mindset to ‘I’m shattered, I think I’ve emptied myself and got nothing left’, and you’ve always got more. Steve’s a big believer in the back-rowers being the ones who run the furthest ... work the hardest. You always think that until you get thrown into the Colosseum. It certainly felt that was a day for me that I learnt the most.
“[Last year] when we attacked we were passive, we played four passes when we could have played one, we passed instead of carried, we gave them the kind of loose, turnover ball that Finn Russell, Duhan van der Merwe and their strike runners need. We did all of that. It was another lesson where we started the game well and tailed off.”
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Russell and Graham may be fit to face England
ShowScotland backs Finn Russell and Darcy Graham are both "in the hunt" to be involved in Saturday's match against England at Allianz Stadium, according to assistant coach Pete Horne. The pair were cast as doubts for the Calcutta Cup after sustaining head injuries in a nasty collision with each other during the first half of last Sunday's 32-18 defeat by Ireland at Murrayfield.
However, both players remain with the squad and have been taking part in light training at Scotland's warm-weather base in Oliva Nova, south-east Spain, over the past few days. Their 12-day stand-down period from full contact rugby is due to end on Thursday – the day the squad fly from Spain to London – and if they pass the required protocols, they will be free to train on Friday with a view to playing on Saturday.
"They're both progressing well through the protocols," Horne said. "I think depending on how that goes over the next couple of days, there's a chance that they could both play. There won't be any risks taken. I'm sure the medics are right on top of it. They're both in the hunt."
Scotland have added Bath centre Cameron Redpath, Edinburgh scrum-half Ali Price and Edinburgh wing Ross McCann to their squad, with centre Matt Currie dropping out due to concussion, back-rower Alexander Masibaka returning to his club Soyaux Angouleme and scrum-half George Horne having a facial injury assessed.
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Curry has been among England’s standout performers in their opening two matches, all the more impressive given he has to carefully manage his training load after a debilitating hip injury that threatened retirement. With England players given last weekend off, Curry was able to spend time with his miniature dachshund, Toby, and revealed dog-walking plays a part in his recovery programme.
“It is more the way I walk,” Curry said. “I just make sure I am walking on my heels and it is a good distraction so having Toby is good. My run-in from Christmas was really good physically. It felt like I was finally playing with two hips, which was nice. Coming into this tournament, it feels like the first time I’ve played in an England shirt where all I’ve been focused on is the game, the ball, where I am with the ball. That’s been a lot of weight off my shoulders. Just go out and throw yourself into it.
“I have won big games and sometimes you come back in and the first session everyone is on their heels a bit. Here everyone is on their toes. It felt like it was the players taking a hold of it and taking a step up.”
