I saw a graphic on Instagram recently showing which country has held the Calcutta Cup over the past 20 years. It used to be all roses with the odd thistle, like a beautifully kept garden that reflected England’s dominance. Now the tides have turned and it’s all thistles with the odd rose.
Scotland have had our number recently. It’s become an incredibly hostile rivalry and I love it. The niggle goes back to the night in 2018 when Ryan Wilson picked on George Ford in the tunnel. Unfortunately, I was plodding back with a belly full of cheese toastie so I was nowhere near to intervene when Wilson started dishing it out in his thick Scottish-Surrey accent.
We had been flogged in the build-up to that match. Eddie Jones had organised a fallow-week training match against Georgia and they absolutely drilled us. Wayne Barnes was in to referee it, and when he awarded Georgia a scrum five-metres from our own posts he moved it to the side because he was worried we’d be sent hurtling back into two metal poles. We didn’t give ourselves the best chance and that was the beginning of a rough seven-year run.
Scotland have got stronger and stronger. On our last visit to Murrayfield, in 2022, Finn Russell put a crossfield kick on Luke Cowan-Dickie in the corner and we were all thinking, ‘Dickie, what are you doing there?’ Dickie was yellow carded and then we had a lineout with no hooker, which we hadn’t prepared for.
We were all in a huddle and it was, ‘Right, who’s going to throw the ball in then?’ No one wanted to make eye contact so I went, ‘For Christ’s take, just give me the ball’. They did a dummy that bamboozled me and I lobbed the worst throw at Alex Dombrandt and we lost the match.
Mail Sport columnist – and England international – Joe Marler looks ahead to this weekend’s Six Nations clash against Scotland, with his country two wins in two so far in the competition
Marler and his England teammates suffered a 20-17 defeat to Scotland at Murrayfield in 2022
He claims the side’s levels of preparation are completely different now under Steve Borthwick
There’s no way that would happen now because the preparation levels are completely different under Steve Borthwick. Every single scenario is covered, which should allow us to show the best of ourselves. We’ve had a nice little boost with Manu Tuilagi, Ollie Lawrence, Luke Cowan-Dickie and George Martin coming back because they’re big hitters who give you confidence in a fixture like this.
We’re expecting more of that hostility on Saturday and we can either run from it or run towards it. If we run away from it, like we have at times, especially up in Murrayfield, then we’ll get our pants pulled down and they’ll do a job on us.
But irrespective of the hostility, there are a lot of Scottish people who I really like. Here are my top five….
ALLY McCOIST
A Question of Sport was unbelievable in the era with Ally McCoist, Sue Barker, John Parrot, Phil Tufnell and Matt Dawson. I went on the newer show with my mate Ugo Monye. It was like a dream because I watched it every Friday night growing up. It was a great experience, so I don’t want to bash it too hard, but it lost a bit of its magic after Ally left.
Unfortunately, it’s been taken off air now because I don’t think it ever recovered from the wholesale changes to its cast. Ally’s an unbelievable football commentator and I love listening to him on TalkSport, so he’s my favourite Scotsman of them all. He likes his rugby, too.
Former Scottish international football Ally McCoist, the ex-Question of Sport team captain, can regularly be found on Premier League commentary duties for TNT or on talkSPORT
WILLIAM WALLACE (MEL GIBSON VERSION)
The first time I ever cried during a film was watching Braveheart in my nan’s lounge. I was six or seven years old, eating biscuits. I had this cuddly snowman and I cried when the executioners were torturing him. ‘Just say the word… just say mercy and it will all be over’.
William Wallace was being pulled apart but he musters up the courage and shouts, ‘FREEDOM!’ before the guy cuts his head off.
The handkerchief falls and hits the floor and I vividly remember being in tears as my nan was in the other room getting an injection for the arthritis in her hand. I love Scotland’s anthem – especially the acapella bit – and how it basically tells us to bugger off and stop taking their land.
The hostility is there from the moment you arrive at the ground.
Mel Gibson portrayed the iconic Scot in the 1996 Best picture winning movie Braveheart
ANDY MURRAY
Early in his career, there was a crossover period when people gave Andy Murray a bad rap for being a bit miserable, negative and not really giving a lot. There was a crossroads moment when he cried on court and suddenly everyone connected with him.
He started to come out of his shell and that’s when I really started to admire him. He kept that miserable attitude but at the same time he was dry and funny.
As a nation, we often pick and choose when someone’s English. It’s a weird one: ‘Have we got any English tennis players who are better than Andy Murray? No, so let’s support Andy Murray because we’re all British and we’re from the same island’.
But when it’s England versus Scotland in team sports, suddenly it becomes a very different thing.
Tennis legend Andy Murray claimed the first of his two Wimbledon singles titles back in 2013
JOHN ANDERSON
Gladiators was another one of my favourite shows growing up and I was a huge fan of the Scottish referee, John Anderson. He’s been replaced by Mark Clattenburg now – the jury’s still out on him because I was so in love with John.
I can’t believe he’s 92 now! I have great memories of watching guys like John Fashanu, Ulrika Johnson and Wolf. This year they’ve supersized it and I love watching the new show with my kids.
Alex Gray, who plays Apollo, was my England captain at age group level. He was tipped to be rugby’s next big thing – a very handsome guy, too – and it’s great to see him doing well in it.
I was actually asked to enter as a contestant but I couldn’t because of the World Cup. I’d like to go on and try Hang Tough… especially if John Anderson makes a one-off comeback.
John Anderson has leapt back into the public consciousness with the return of the TV show Gladiators, though he has not reprised his famous role as referee
FINN RUSSELL
As a fan, I really enjoy watching Finn Russell. He’s got a massive bag of tricks. You never know what he’s going to do. Half the time, I’m not sure if he knows himself. He’s one of the best in the world. Marcus Smith talks about how much he loves the way he plays and what it was like to spend time with him on the Lions tour.
I’ve been watching the new Full Contact Netflix series and it’s been interesting to see his player-coach dynamic with Gregor Townsend.
There’s been a lot of press about how they used to fall out but Gregor’s obviously found a way to harness his influence in a positive way. We’ve got to try and put as much heat on him as possible on Saturday, although that’s the same blueprint that every team uses against him.
Finn Russell’s 72nd-minute penalty separated the sides in their Six Nations clash in 2022
It’s about bringing defensive line-speed to put his skillset under as much pressure as possible. Even then, we’ve seen him just pull it out the bag. You think you’ve got him then he pulls a little offload off the floor.
He’ll be set up like he’s clearing then he’ll go off his other foot with a little banana kick to the other side of the pitch. It’s great to watch but when he’s five metres away from me, playing for the opposite team, I can’t be stood there thinking, ‘Phwoah, yeah, that was half decent’.
