2009 Six Nations Preview: England vs. Scotland

Posted on March 20, 2009 by Editor

Time: Saturday, 15:00 GMT
Venue: Twickenham, London
Referee: Marius Jonker
Weather: Mild, sunny

While Scotland’s match against England is a dead rubber within the context of the Six Nations, there’s plenty at stake for both teams as they meet to contest the Calcutta Cup.

The Hadden Ultimatum
Frank Hadden was handed a two win mandate ahead of the 2009 Six Nations, and finds himself short of a win going into the final match against a resurgent England. Hadden’s men are said to be firmly behind their coach, and are planning an all-out assault in a match which never fails to arouse the best in the Scottish team.

Working in Scotland’s favour is the fact that they have been the most improved team at the tournament, and have also demonstrated a knack for upsetting their neighbours in Six Nations matches over recent years. However, all of Scotland’s recent wins against England have come at home, with their last victory over England at HQ coming over two decades ago.

England Back on Track
England answered their critics in the best possible way by demolishing France at Twickenham last week. The glimpses of promise England had shown throughout the tournament suddenly exploded into an avalanche of tries, as England produced their finest Six Nations performance since winning the Grand Slam in 2003.

Martin Johnson’s men will therefore be feeling a great deal more confident as they prepare to take on the Scots. It’s hard to imagine England backsliding on last weekend’s form, however they’ll need to prepare for a massive Scottish assault in the first half of the match if they wish to avoid a surprise defeat.

Players to Watch
Scotland: Scotland will need strong leadership to prevail against England at Twickenham tomorrow. Scrum-half Mike Blair has been tasked with marshaling the troops for the 2009 Calcutta Cup.

England: Toby Flood ignited the England backline last Saturday, and a repeat performance will be required to subdue the Scottish early in the match.

Six Nations Betting
England have won their last four matches against Scotland at Twickenham by a 20 to 40 point margin, suggesting that these margins may be the way to go in the winning margin betting markets. Punters backing Scotland to score an upset will benefit from great odds on a 1-5 point Scottish winning margin.

Winning Margin Betting	Price
England 21-25	7/1
England 26-30	10/1
England 31-35	14/1
Rugby Betting at Bet365

England: 15 Delon Armitage, 14 Mark Cueto, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Riki Flutey, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Joe Worsley, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Simon Shaw, 4 Steve Borthwick (captain), 3 Phil Vickery, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Andrew Sheridan.
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Julian White, 18 Nick Kennedy, 19 James Haskell, 20 Danny Care, 21 Andy Goode, 22 Mathew Tait.

Scotland: 15 Chris Paterson, 14 Simon Danielli, 13 Max Evans, 12 Graeme Morrison, 11 Thom Evans, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair (captain), 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Scott Gray, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Jason White, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Moray Low, 18 Nathan Hines, 19 Kelly Brown, 20 Chris Cusiter, 21 Nick De Luca, 22 Hugo Southwell.