Hoodoos, bogey zones and wounded hosts to overcome

Favourites England have won just once in Murrayfield in the last decade and this afternoon face a test of their Six Nations title credentials, writes Harry Latham-Coyle in Edinburgh

- Harry Latham-Coyle

But recent trips to Auld Reekie have been rather gloomy for marauders from down south; a city of stone providing a handful of uncomfortable landings.

Four times England have visited Murrayfield since 2018; only once have they emerged with victory. Fortune has favoured a brave Scotland - remember Finn Russell's arcing pass in 2018 – but there has been a faintly farcical feel about aspects of England's attempts to conquer their hosts, from Luke Cowan-Dickie's volleyball spike in 2022 to their most recent visit, where both Duhan van der Merwe and a slippery ball escaped English clutches all too easily.

Even the lone victory of late came in an almost irredeemable game played in nasty conditions, and ended with an accusation of a bottle being thrown at a member of the England staff - although it later transpired that the swirling wind was likely to blame, Neil Craig attacked by a gust rather than with gusto in 2020.

It is a place, then, without many happy memories upon which to draw as England prepare for Calcutta Cup conflict again. “It is not about dwelling too much on previous history,” Itoje stressed. “This is an opportunity for us as a group to create new history. This is an opportunity for us to be the type of England team we want to be going to these amazing stadiums and performing well. That is the positive message we want to try and reinforce. “When you play away from home, you generally have to be sharper. There are things that happen you just have to roll with, there are things that happen that you just take on the chin and make sure you are bulletproof to the scenarios.”