Of all the grounds that Scotland visit, Twickenham seems to hold a special fear. There are plenty of places where they have trouble winning — any ground in New Zealand or South Africa, for example — but none has the mystique and horror of that biennial journey to the south west of London.
This is the 100th anniversary of the first time a Scotland team made that trip and set the pattern for the century to come by losing 13-8. In the 44 games that followed — allowing for the two World Wars — they have, by and large, stuck to that precedent, with only four wins and five draws breaking that tale of woe.
Nor has professionalism helped the Scottish cause during the trek south. Since the sport went open in 1995, Scotland have played seven times at Twickenham and not just lost every one but have conceded more than 40 points in five of those matches.
While Scotland are still five years short of their record winless streak at the home of English rugby — the 33 years from 1938 to 1971, including the war — the 13 matches they have gone without a win there is a record losing run, as are the ten defeats in a row since the 1989 draw.
It does mean that the handful of players who have tasted victory at Twickenham enjoy a special status in the Scottish game, but for them, there is also a slight air or bewilderment as to why so many of the greats who have worn the dark blue jersey have not managed to match their feat.
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It is even harder to understand when you look at the contrast with Scotland’s home record.
“I quite enjoyed playing there,” said Jim Calder, who was at the tail of the lineout when Tom Smith, the Gala lock, flopped over for the try that sealed the last victory at Twickenham, in 1983. “We should have won two years before. We were leading with six minutes to go but Huw Davies, the England fly half, got through to score and they snatched it at the end.
“I remember, though, that John Scott, the England captain, had been quoted as saying he was more worried about giving his speech at the after-match dinner than about the result.
“It was a nice bit of motivation for us, and we were confident, too — we had ended our losing run in Cardiff the year before and we had won in Australia. We saw no reason why we should not do the same at Twickenham. We were comfortable playing away from home. It was not until they beat Argentina last year that a Scotland team won again in the southern hemisphere.
“I really don’t remember that much about the game [at Twickenham], but do I remember Tom Smith’s try straight from a lineout, and I remember David Leslie putting in a class performance on the other flank. It was a solid win, one of those games where we were really in charge. We were a team that was on our way and felt it — the following season we won the grand slam.”
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The real mystery, Calder says, is that winning there should have proved to be just as hard as it has been. The atmosphere is no more intimidating, aggressive or passionate than he experienced at several grounds – Parc de Princes in Paris was more daunting for noise level, the old Cardiff Arms Park had a better atmosphere once the choirs got into action, the old Lansdowne Road felt as though the crowd were almost on the field itself — but in none of them have Scotland had such a bad record.
“I was also playing for Stewart’s Melville when they won the Twickenham sevens, so I felt it was a pretty good place to play,” Calder added. “It shouldn’t be as difficult as it has been. Probably, over the years, the fact is that England are always going to be hard to beat, simply because they have so many players to pick from.”
The famous four
1926: England 9 Scotland 17: Outweighed but making up for it in the loose, Scotland arrived as the grand-slam champions and became the first home nation to win at Twickenham 16 years after it opened. Ian Smith, still the Six Nations record tryscorer, collected two of the three Scotland touchdowns. It was also memorable for Scotland refusing to wear shirt numbers, James Aikman Smith, the union secretary, explaining to King George V that, “This, sir, is a rugby match, not a cattle sale.”
1938: England 16 Scotland 21: Often described as the best Calcutta Cup match of all time, the first to be broadcast live on television and truly memorable in Scotland for the performance of Wilson Shaw, the Scotland captain and fly half. He scored two magnificent solo tries and created another to seal a triple crown, the first for five years. It was a true nailbiter, England levelling the score three times, but Shaw had the final word.
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1971: England 15 Scotland 16: Nobody who saw it will ever forget the sight of Peter Brown, the Scotland captain and No 8, plonking the ball on the ground, turning his back on it as he walked away, wiping his face on his sleeve and then turning back to kick the winning conversion of Chris Rea’s late try. Scotland had been 15-8 down with eight minutes to go but fought back with two late scores.
1983: England 12 Scotland 22: Probably the easiest of Scotland’s wins at Twickenham set the team on their way to a grand slam the following season. Scotland had lost their first three games but the forwards laid the platform for Roy Laidlaw and John Rutherford to control the game at half-back. The most memorable moment came late on when Tom Smith, the Gala lock, flopped over the line straight from a lineout to score on his debut and seal the victory.