England manager Martin Johnson has warned his side to disregard history as his players seek to edge closer to a Six Nations Grand Slam with victory over Scotland at Twickenham on Sunday.
England start as overwhelming favourites for Sunday's Calcutta Cup clash after winning their opening three games of the championship while Scotland have slumped to consecutive defeats against France, Wales and Ireland.
History also favours England due to Scotland's abysmal record at Twickenham, where they have not won since 1983 -- the longest losing streak at English rugby's headquarters of any of the home unions.
Yet Johnson is aware that the Scots are rarely more dangerous than when they are assigned the role of underdogs, citing last year's win over South Africa as evidence that they are capable of beating anyone on their day.
"It's an easy game for Scotland in a way -- everyone's talking about us. They'll come down and be desperate to get a win, to win at Twickenham, to beat England," said Johnson.
"The thing with the Six Nations is that it's a tournament but it is also just individual games. The Calcutta Cup, England-Scotland: neither team will go on to the field thinking about what's gone before. It doesn't matter".
"Scotland will come down here and they'll tear into us. We need to tear into them and make far fewer mistakes than we made against France."
"It's a battle and it needs to be won."
Johnson has made only one change from the side which started against France, loosehead Alex Corbisiero coming in for the injured Andrew Sheridan.
On the replacements bench, fit-again British Lion Tom Croft is restored to the squad for the first time since injuring his shoulder against South Africa last year.
Scotland are aiming to score their first victory at Twickenham in 28 years.
Sunday's game sees Scotland coach Andy Robinson return to Twickenham since he stepped down as England coach in 2006.
Johnson also forged a close relationship with Robinson when the Scotland coach was an assistant to Clive Woodward in the 2003 World Cup winning year.
"We have been through a lot together when he was coaching England. I played with Andy and against him and you won't find a more passionate rugby man. He wants to win, he's a very competitive guy," Johnson said.
Robinson attaches no personal significance on the match, instead urging his players to revel in the prospect of taking on England at a packed Twickenham.
"All I'll be saying to the players is it's a fantastic stadium to go and play, the pitch is in cracking order and what better place to go out and show what you're about than to do that at Twickenham," Robinson said.
"The players have got to be inspired by the stadium and also by the team that they're playing against - they're right at the top of their game.
"We have the personnel who can deal with it, but we have to be right at the top of our game."
Robinson has made four changes from the side which slipped to defeat against Ireland at Murrayfield in their last game.
Winger Simon Danielli, centre Joe Ansbro and scrum-half Rory Lawson were brought in to start alongside Nathan Hines, who takes over at blindside flanker with Kelly Brown switching to number eight.
Robinson said he wants his team to be inspired rather than intimidated by Scotland's poor record at Twickenham, where they have won just four times in 44 matches dating back 100 years.
"The record books show what a special achievement it would be for the Scotland team to win on Sunday," Robinson said.
"England have played some good rugby in this championship but Sunday is about our performance.
source: Yahoo News
No comments:
Post a Comment