Six Nations: Scotland need ‘best-ever performance’ to beat England

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has called on his side to produce their “best-ever performance” in order to defeat England in the Six Nations on Saturday.

The Scots haven’t won against England for ten years and Townsend says his squad need to deliver against the auld enemy at Murrayfield.

He told BBC Scotland: “It is great for our players to test themselves against the best. We play the number two team in the world this week and the number three team [Ireland] away in two weeks, which is what you want.

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“You can tell when the players are preparing, it is a top team we are playing against. It is England. We have got to deliver our best in training this week, and when it comes to Saturday afternoon, we have got to deliver our best-ever performance.

“It will be a great atmosphere, as it has been for any game over the last couple of seasons, especially since November. But the England game is that extra bit special. We just have to make sure the crowd are cheering at the end as well as the beginning.”

The Scots have named an unchanged team and Jones says England must be implacable against a strong attack. He added: “We are really excited about this game and we will need to be very tough and relentless in our defence to keep the pressure on this Scottish team.

“They are renowned for their attack so we will need to put pressure on them, create opportunities through our defence for our attack and convert those opportunities to points.

“Our preparation over the last two weeks has been important in that it has allowed us to regenerate the players, improve the fitness of some and to get a clear understanding on how we will play this weekend.”

Scotland vs. England: match guide

• When: Saturday, 24 February
• Where: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
• Time: 4.45pm
• TV channel: live on BBC

Team news: Scotland name an unchanged team for the Calcutta Cup clash with England at Murrayfield. Head coach Gregor Townsend selects the same players who beat France 32-26 on 11 February. England make one change with Nathan Hughes replacing Sam Simmonds at No.8. Prop Joe Marler is on the bench after returning from suspension.

Scotland vs. England (according to Oddschecker)

• Scotland to win: 11/4
• England to win: 2/5
• Draw: 28/1