This has not been a great week for English sporting self-esteem. At least Bangladesh are not going to beat them at rugby union but a first Scotland win at Twickenham for 32 years would unleash similar torrents of frustration south of Hadrian’s Wall.
Six months away from a home Rugby World Cup, England do not want to suffer further embarrassment in a fixture they last lost in the distant chart-topping era of Kajagoogoo and Men at Work.
There is no obvious reason for Stuart Lancaster and his coaches to panic. The Six Nations Championship title is still a possibility, Scotland have lost all three of their games and the post-Dublin mood at England training has been reassuringly spiky.
"There's been a little bit of spark because of the Irish loss , because the championship is still there to be won and because people are back who have been out for a while," said Andy Farrell, England's backs coach. "Training has been sharp and there's been a bit of edge. It's what you want going into a big game like this."
Defeat in Ireland, though, exposed uncomfortable issues at the breakdown, in the air and between the collective ears that cannot reoccur if England are to retain any silverware aspirations this month. Having started several games with all the alacrity of a hibernating tortoise, the first quarter of the 133rd contest between the auld rivals will be particularly crucial. Scotland are winless but they are not without ability, incentive or hope.
Hence Farrell’s slight wariness, with Vern Cotter’s decision to pack Scotland’s bench with six forwards and two backs, a pretty clear sign of no-nonsense intent.
"We can see what type of game is coming," said Farrell, conscious the visitors' home defeat to Italy could well encourage a "wounded animal" response. "It will be an intense, feisty, fiery one. They'll be trying to stamp their authority on the game and we all know what Jim Hamilton and Dave Denton bring. We'll be ready to counteract that."
Great confidence
England knew precisely what was coming in Dublin but did not deal with it well enough. If Scotland win the toss they should definitely kick off. England radiate no great confidence at restarts and have a propensity to give away costly early penalties. This is a big game for players such as
Ben Youngs
and Dylan Hartley if they wish to retain their starting jerseys.
Scotland, sadly minus their injured centre Alex Dunbar, will also have to end another protracted sequence if they are to lift the Calcutta Cup for the first time since 2008.
Remarkably, England have won all seven of their Six Nations games featuring one of France's current three leading referees, with Romain Poite set to take charge on Saturday.
Monsieur Poite had to retire injured during this fixture four years ago but England rarely object to his characteristic firmness at scrum time.
The home starting line-up contain 428 Test caps, the most by an England XV since the 2011 World Cup quarter-final. There is increasing experience on the bench, too, and, regardless of events in Cardiff, England would love a sizeable win purely for its own sake. The World Cup will be here sooner than people realise and Chris Robshaw and his players do not want their supporters' abiding memory of this championship to be their Dublin diffidence.
Nor, as Farrell emphasised, is it all about the data or their points difference. “I don’t think you can really judge a game by the score,” he said, keen for a satisfying performance first and foremost.
From Scotland’s perspective any malt that has matured for three decades is bound to taste good but happy hour at Twickenham remains painfully elusive. A 15-point home victory is a more likely outcome.
