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Week One

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It’s got to be a favourable start for England with Scotland coming to Twickenham, even with Scotland’s win in last year’s RBS Six Nations at Murrayfield.

It’s got to be a favourable start for England with Scotland coming to Twickenham, even with Scotland’s win in last year’s RBS Six Nations at Murrayfield.

Scotland are missing their talisman Jason White who adds a whole different dimension to their game.

You can view the loss of White for Scotland in the same way we used to view the loss of Martin Johnson for England. He’s an inspirational captain and a world-class player so England will view their chances very favourably.

It will be a great game. The Scottish have gone back to their traditional style of rugby which is very fast and furious. Frank Hadden has done a great job as Scottish coach.

Scotland’s great losses besides White in the autumn were Chris Cusiter, Mike Blair and Ali Hogg. Hogg, the open-side flanker who ran wild in the Calcutta Cup last year at Murrayfield, has been injured for a long time but he looks like he could be close to a recall.

The Scottish midfield is good but it’s lacking blistering pace so there won’t be too much to trouble Andy Farrell at centre for England because he’s such a world-class player.

It’s going to be a humdinger but can Scotland win a game without White and get over the jinx of Twickenham because it’s not been a very happy hunting ground for them for about twenty years?

I expect England to win the Calcutta Cup and I urge the Twickenham crowd to get behind the team.