MORE OF THIS

Toony urges Scots to tap into inspirational past

- BY STUART BATHGATE

Nathan McBeth will start against England

GREGOR Townsend hopes Scotland can be inspired by their recent record against England when they take on the Auld Enemy at Murrayfield tomorrow - and put last week's dismal defeat by Italy behind them.

The Scots won four Calcutta Cup matches in a row from 2021. And last year they came within a missed conversion of making it a record five wins on the trot.

Head coach Townsend (inset) reckons England have improved a lot since then. And his own team seem to have gone backwards since that match, with bad losses in the autumn to Argentina and New Zealand as well as that 18-15 defeat in Rome.

Those results have put a lot of pressure on Townsend, who signed a contract extension late last year.

But he wants his players to ignore the background noise - and tap into their memories of just how well they can play against tomorrow's opponents.