The Saturday in the rugby cathedral, Twickenham From london England will start on Six nations receiving to Scotland. The cast led by Eddie Jones will try to achieve the double championship, while the Cardo commanded by Gregor Townsend you want to start the tournament in the best way.
HOW DO THEY GET THERE: Scotland said goodbye to the old 5 Nations format with its last title, in 1999, of which twenty-two years have passed without celebration. From there, when Italy joined in 2000, they could never reach the title. In the 2020 tournament they finished fourth and in the November series they only surpassed Italy and Fiji (they won the match that was suspended by Covid 19) and lost to France and Ireland. England, on the other hand, will defend the crown, the seventh they obtained in the 6N and which positioned them as the most winning team since six countries have competed. Last year, in addition, they kept the two tournaments that were played on the European continent, after the disappointment suffered by the final lost to South Africa at the RWC in Japan in 2019. Those led by Eddie Jones had the luxury, also, to obtain the Autumm Cup, in the round of rugby in the middle of Covid 19; after beating Georgia, Ireland, Wales and France.
WHAT DO THEY SEEK: On the 150th anniversary of the oldest classic in world rugby, the Scots and English will open the tournament for the sixth time since 2000. Each time they opened a tournament, the English won: 15-9, in 2016, 38- 18 in 2013, 13-6 in 2012, 42-20 in 2007 and 29-3 in 2002. Scotland has not beaten England on an opening day since February 4, 1984, when they beat it at Murrayfield, by 18 to 6.
THE KEYS: Greg Townsend’s team will have three games in Edinburgh: Wales, Ireland and Italy, although their luck will surely be defined in their visits to London and Paris. The head coach will draw on the experience and leadership of Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg, while the stakes will be on the new names: Bath center, Cameron Redpath (one of seven rookies) can also play opening or fullback, and wing Duhan van der Merwe, with only one disputed test. England for their part, arrives again as a candidate, with Eddie Jones’ eyes set on expanding the base and that the rotation does not make the structure suffer. They aim for the two-time championship and the 2023 World Cup as their final goal. Without Underhill in the first dates, they will feel one of the players who became leaders of a pack that shines for its solidity and regularity. There will be several names to watch among the new recruits, Ollie Lawrence, Max Malins, Paolo Odogwu, Jack Willis, Tom West, Will Stuart, Dan Robson, Harry Randall, Bano Obano and Jonny Hill.
BACKGROUND: On March 27, 1871, Scotland and England met for the first time, at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh, with a victory for the Cardo team by 4 to 1. This year it will be 150 years since that first match, where it will be I play the Calcutta Cup, the most traditional trophy between two British nations that was first contested in 1879 (3-3). The story marks a broad English dominance, who won 76 of the 138 games. At home, La Rosa’s team has not lost to Scotland since 1983 (22-12). The last match was one of the most vibrant duels in history, where Cardo’s team came from a deficit of 31 to 0 and reached the final minute winning 38 to 31. At the end of the game George Ford equalized the match synthesizing an incredible match that will remain in memory with the score in 38 points.
TRAININGS:
ENGLAND: 1- Ellis Genge, 2- Jamie George, 3- Will Stuart; 4- Maro Itoje, 5- Jonny Hill; 6- Mark Wilson, 7- Tom Curry, 8- Billy Vunipola, 9- Ben Youngs, 10- Owen Farrell; 11- Jonny May, 12- Olie Lawrence, 13- Henry Slade, 14- Antonhy Watson; 15- Elliot Daly.
Suplentes: 16- Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17- Beno Obano, 18- Harry Williams, 19- Courtney Lawes, 20- Ben Earl, 21- Dan Robson, 22- George Ford, 23- Max Malins.
SCOTLAND: 1. Rory Sutherland, 2. George Turner, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Scott Cummings, 5. Jonny Gray, 6. Jamie Ritchie, 7. Hamish Watson, 8. Matt Fagerson, 9. Ali Price, 10. Finn Russell, 1. Duhan van der Merwe, 12. Cameron Redpath, 13. Chris Harris, 14. Sean Maitland, 15. Stuart Hogg (c).
Suplentes: 16. David Cherry, 17. Oli Kebble, 18. WP Nei, 19. Richie Gray, 20. Gary Graham, 21. Scott Steele, 22. Jaco van der Walt, 23. Huw Jones.