Through two triumphant World Cup campaigns, Siya Kolisi talked of South Africa being driven to succeed by a higher purpose, by the opportunity to bring some light and hope to a “beautiful but broken” country. To have that galvanising force, a cause around which the team could unite, proved one of the most powerful factors in the Springboks winning back-to-back titles.
England head to Murrayfield playing for something bigger than the result of a rugby match that will define their Six Nations campaign. Jamie George is an incredibly impressive man and it brought a tear to the eye listening to him articulate the pride his late mother, Jane, felt in watching him represent his country.
George discovered she had cancer on the same day he was offered the England captaincy. Until the disease took hold aggressively in January, only the pandemic had prevented her from being in the stadium to watch him play. On her deathbed she talked to George about the England team, his England team, and their opening wins against Italy and Wales.
She died last week and it is a mark of George’s influence on this relatively new England squad that his grief will not be an individual motivation at Murrayfield but a galvanising force. “If I’ve learned one thing over the last few weeks it’s that everyone has got each other’s backs,” he said. “If we harness that in the right way then I know this team will be successful. The character that we’ve shown, to me in particular over the last nine or ten days, has been absolutely incredible.”
George has found rugby and the England squad to be his escape from the grief, his solace, his support network. You worry that at some point, when the false existence of life in the middle of a Six Nations is over, the emotion of it all will hit him hard. His family, his club, his team-mates, his sport will need to be there for him still.
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For now, George is channelling all his spirit and energy into changing the course of recent Calcutta Cup history and delivering England a victory that will characterise their campaign. This is a pivotal weekend. It has been hard to definitively judge England so far in this Six Nations. Steve Borthwick’s team need to make a statement at Murrayfield.
Winning back the oldest trophy in international rugby would validate the positive aspects of their opening two victories; notably their commitment to an aggressive blitz defence and an enthusiasm to attack with greater ambition.
• Alex Lowe: George Furbank earns deserved recall for his vision and creativity
On the back of a run to the World Cup semi-final, three wins from three would represent an improvement on every Six Nations campaign since 2020. And it would mean the grand slam is on the line for both teams when Ireland travel to Twickenham on March 9. Tasty.
But lose again to Scotland, as they have done in four of the past six meetings, and England would be battling to avoid another below-par Six Nations campaign. Two wins from five games, for a fourth successive year, would emerge as a deflating, distinct possibility. The mood around the England team and the potential for what they can achieve this year all rests on defying the hostility of Murrayfield and the magic of Finn Russell to wrestle back the Calcutta Cup.
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George knows there will be no sympathy for him come kick off, nor does he want any. England arrived in Edinburgh on Thursday night ready to take on the hordes. Borthwick, the head coach, declared Scotland to be clear favourites. George referenced people writing off England’s chances, which would include The Times writer Sam Warburton, who has backed Scotland to win.
“There’s been a lot of talk in the Scottish media about the fact we have no chance and we might as well not turn up,” George said. “That’s absolutely fine in my eyes because we’ll go about our business quietly and we’ve been really happy with where we’ve been at over the last couple of weeks.
“Everyone can use different motivation, whether it’s what’s going on with me at home, people reading stuff in the media, this game is going to have an edge, this game is going to have a bite to it and we’re very prepared for that.
“You don’t want to get revved up too early but this is a game more so than ever where our senior players step up and show what it needs to be about. If we bring with us a lot of talented younger guys that we’ve got, I think it’ll be a great performance.
“We’re certainly not going to die wondering, we’re going to go out there and give absolutely everything and that should always be the case when you pull on the England jersey.”
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Scotland come into the game bruised by a missed opportunity against France two weekends ago. They should have knocked over Les Bleus, even before being denied by a controversial late try decision, and also sit undefeated after two rounds. As it is, the title aspirations for a team with so much unfulfilled promise are now on the line against England. “You have to bounce back with a victory,” Gregor Townsend, the Scotland head coach, implored his men. “It’s history. It’s emotion.”
Borthwick has repeatedly praised England’s ability to “find a way to win”, which has undoubtedly been a character trait of the team over the past year. Against Samoa, Fiji, Argentina, Italy and Wales they flirted with disaster before eking out results, winning by one, six, three, three and two points respectively. In the middle of that run, they fell to a one-point defeat by South Africa in the World Cup semi-final.
“Finding a way” has positive and negative connotations. Borthwick sees it predominantly as the former; as an ability to problem-solve on the field, and they will need to be at their sharpest against Russell and Scotland. The counter view is that England are too reactive and need to impose themselves more on games, to set the pace rather than digging themselves out of holes; to make a statement.
“Do we want to evolve our attack and score points? Yes, we absolutely do,” Borthwick acknowledged. “The last five fixtures against Scotland have been decided by seven points or less. Games at international level are tight, especially in Six Nations rugby. It is important we continue to find a way to win but at the same time continue to develop our game to be able to score more points quickly.”
Rain is forecast in Edinburgh for the morning of the game but it should be dry come kick-off. England secured their victory over Wales two weekends ago by tightening up their ambition to move the ball and reverting to a kick-pressure game plan.
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They may well continue in that vein against Scotland, forcing Russell to make decisions under pressure and to kick long, placing greater emphasis on England’s transition attack. The selection of George Furbank at full back ahead of Freddie Steward would play into that strategy. “George is high up on line-break assists across European and Premiership rugby,” Borthwick said. “He is a very good player who I think is right for this game.”
There is a greater carrying threat in this England side with Ellis Genge back in the starting line-up and Ollie Lawrence fit to play inside centre after recovering from five weeks out with a hip injury. It looks nicely balanced, with George Martin primed to bring some added physicality off the bench after his return to the squad. Scotland are stronger too, though, with Blair Kinghorn, Kyle Steyn and Jamie Ritchie back in their side.
“What a great game to be involved in,” Borthwick said. England have a spiritual cause to unify them and a captain for whom the team will give everything. But they need something earthly and tangible to validate their progress, to give hope that England may be finally hauling themselves out of a trough of Six Nations mediocrity.
Regaining the Calcutta Cup would do that nicely.
Scotland v England
Six Nations, Murrayfield
Saturday, kick-off 4.45pm
TV BBC1
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Alfie Barbeary, Tom Pearson, Fin Baxter and the rest of the England A team can prove they should be part of Steve Borthwick’s Six Nations plans when they face Portugal on Sunday.
That trio are all in the revamped second-string team, which will also “capture” Josh Iosefa-Scott, the 27-year-old New Zealand-born tight-head prop, for England. This side is now England’s second nominated team, so if players play for the A team they cannot represent another country they qualify for unless they stand down from international games for three years.
The England A coach George Skivington has picked an exciting line-up for the game at Welford Road against Portugal. Baxter, Jamie Blamire and Joe Heyes are in the front row, with the captain Charlie Ewels and Rusiate Tuima at lock, and Pearson, Guy Pepper and Barbeary in the back row. Barbeary is available again after he was sent off for Bath against Racing 92 in January. In the backs, Harry Randall and Charlie Atkinson are the half backs, with Max Ojomoh and Oscar Beard at centre, and Will Muir, Cadan Murley and Josh Hodge in the back three.
Sam Riley, Tarek Haffar, Iosefa-Scott, Ben Bamber, Greg Fisilau, Caolan Englefield, Jamie Shillcock and Olly Hartley will make up the England A bench.
The Gloucester director of rugby, Skivington, who coaches the team with Sam Vesty of Northampton Saints and Dom Waldouck from Gloucester, said: “It’s been great to get together with the group this week at Loughborough and I’ve been really impressed by the high standards they’ve shown. We’ve put the boys through a challenging programme that has tested them to the intense rigour that Portugal will arrive with on Sunday.
“Our visitors are in the midst of the Rugby Europe Championship and will no doubt be using Sunday as an opportunity to experiment, but their strength as a union has been evident recently. They will certainly provide a stern test for us, but it’s a test that the players, Dom, Sam and I are relishing.
“I am really excited to see the side take to the field. I really believe we have assembled a squad that possesses some of the most exciting developing talent the Gallagher Premiership has to offer, and I’m sure they’ll put on a show for the fans in Leicester.”
