England v Scotland: Key talking points ahead of Six Nations clash at Twickenham
Last Updated: 11/03/17 4:53pm
England will be looking for a record-equalling 18 Test victories in Tier One rugby when they take on Scotland at Twickenham in their Six Nations clash on Saturday .
Standing in their way will be a Scotland side brimming with confidence who will be looking for their first win at Twickenham since 1983.
England will draw level with New Zealand's match-winning streak if they win, but have not reached their own high standards despite still being on course for a back-to-back Grand Slam.
Eddie Jones may be forced into a late change as Owen Farrell could be in doubt after suffering a knee injury in Thursday's training session. He will be given until kick-off to prove his fitness, but England have plenty of firepower to call upon with Ben Te'o a more than capable replacement.
Scotland have certainly been the most entertaining team to watch in this years Six Nations but can they bring an end to England's winning streak? We examine the key talking points…
Contrasting styles
Scotland want to play with plenty of momentum and make sure they keep the tempo up. Pace and space is what they will be looking for and they have been successful in getting width to cause damage.
England have battled with that aspect of their game but they have a strong advantage in the forwards and should be looking to dominate the set-piece and use their massive forwards to carry it up for them. It's a bit too simple to say this is all about power v pace but England will certainly look to play a tighter game.
Nathan Hughes, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes and the very impressive Joe Launchbury will all be looking to have a big impact with ball in hand. Talking of Launchbury and Lawes, their battle with Jonny and Richie Gray is certainly going to be something to special. The four in-form locks could do their Lions chances a heap of good on Saturday.
The Hogg factor
Stuart Hogg has been the best attacking player on display in this year's Six Nations and has caused all sorts of problems with the ball in hand. He may be trailing England's Mike Brown in metres made (Brown has 266, while Hogg is on 207) but he has beaten more defenders and his breaks have resulted in more points being scored for Scotland.
However, how much time Hogg will spend in attack will depend on his forwards and what sort of ball they can get for him. As mentioned before, Scotland do not possess the carrying capacity of England and it's the Gray brothers who do most of the grunt work in this department.
A bigger emphasis for Scotland will be to clear out England at the ruck as quicker as possible to make sure they don't concede a turnover and to ensure quick ball. Finn Russell at fly-half will play a huge part in getting the ball out to his backs. Like George Ford, Russell is a playmaker and has grown in confidence. He loves to attack the line and has a superb pass off either hand.
Watson's time to shine?
In Hamish Watson, Scotland have gone a genuine openside who has been very impressive. He came off the bench against Wales and was exceptional against a very good and well balanced Wales backrow. He was also a stand-out player against Ireland and will be crucial against England.
England have not quite got the balance of the Irish and Welsh backrow yet and Watson, along with John Barclay and Ryan Wilson, could have the edge against Maro Itoje, James Haskell and Nathan Hughes.
Watson will be the man Scotland will look to stop England getting any momentum and expect him to slow the ball down at the ruck area.
Defensively, Watson has been excellent as well. CJ Stander once questioned Watson's tackling commitment during Edinburgh's PRO12 clash with Munster but there has been no sign of that during the Six Nations
Against Ireland he put in 19 tackles and missed none while he added 15 against France and eight against Wales when he came on for John Hardie.
The "Finishers"
Eddie Jones has a name for his bench - he calls them the finishers and they certainly have plenty of firepower to call upon. The Vunipola brothers will be chomping at the bit to get stuck in as will Anthony Watson.
Throw into the mix Jamie George, Ben Te'o and Danny Care and you can see just how impressive England's depth is.
Scotland may not have quite the depth but Ross Ford and Duncan Weir will look to make an impact.
Cornell du Preez could also make his debut, the South African born backrower has qualified under the three-year residency rule and has been impressive for Edinburgh.
The History boys
The last time Scotland beat England Twickenham was way back in 1983 when a certain Roy Laidlaw scored the only try of the game as Scotland won 22-12. None of the current Scotland squad where born in 1983 - including Laidlaw's nephew Greig who, unfortunately is still out with injury.
There has been plenty made of who is feeling the pressure more - Scotland for their chance to end that losing streak or England who have the chance to equal New Zealand's record of 18 consecutive Tier One Test victories if they win at Twickenham.
England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs; 1 Joe Marler, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Courtney Lawes, 6 Maro Itoje, 7 James Haskell, 8 Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Tom Wood, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Te'o, 23 Anthony Watson.
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price; 1 Gordon Reid, 2 Fraser Brown, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 John Barclay (c), 7 Hamish Watson, 8 Ryan Wilson.
Replacements: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Cornell Du Preez, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Mark Bennett.
