Six Nations: Scotland wary of England suffocation as decisions on WP Nel, Javan Sebastian and Jamie Bhatti explained
Scrum coach De Villiers has been impressed with team’s set-piece but knows it must be on point to ensure more Calcutta Cup success
cotland’s recent dominance in the Calcutta Cup has been founded on their ability to match and beat the English pack and a large dollop of the credit should go the way of John Dalziel and Pieter de Villiers.
As forwards coach and scrum coach respectively, the pair have been important lieutenants for Gregor Townsend as he began the process of strengthening his team following the Rugby World Cup 2019. Even though it hasn’t always been easy, Scotland has excelled in one match: against England. This weekend at Murrayfield, Scotland will try to defeat the Old Enemy for the fourth time in a row—something they haven’t done since 1970–1972.
Arriving prior to the 2020 Six Nations, De Villiers, a former South African international for France, has endeavored to elevate the Scottish set-piece to the pinnacle of international performance. Although he is happy with the development, he is aware that England will continue focus on this area on Saturday.
We’ve always aimed to improve as a team every single week. There is a desire for advancement,” he remarked.
We’ve integrated set-piece into our mentality and planning. Setting up a solid foundation is crucial in the initial phase. The lads have excelled in kickoff, scrum, and lineout situations. That creates a solid foundation.
“With England, you won’t do well if you don’t start strong with your set-piece. Our progress has been greatly aided by this consistency, which will be crucial for us once more this weekend. We hold England in high regard. They are currently ranked above us and they’ve had a solid World Cup and they’re always tough up-front so we know it will be another physical Calcutta Cup match.”
England come into the match on the back of narrow victories over Italy and Wales. Scotland won in Cardiff in round one but lost at home to France a week later and were left nursing a grievance over the way match referee Nic Berry and TMO Brian MacNeice decided they couldn’t award the Scots a late score despite Sam Skinner appearing to ground the ball. A try would have won the game for Scotland but de Villiers insists they have moved on.
“It almost feels long ago,” said the scrum coach. “A bit of time off was good for the team. There’s obviously been frustration and disappointment. I thought we’d done enough to win that game but that’s the way rugby goes. It’s crucial in order to be able to go on. It’s critical to have the ability to express frustration. Even though there were still some things we could have done better, it’s encouraging to know that we performed well enough [to possibly win the game]. That is psychologically significant. It won’t be the final choice that works against us.
The lads have been encouraging and hard at work, and what better match to have after our final Edinburgh game until November—our final chance to play in front of our home supporters—than the Calcutta Cup. There’s always something special about this game. a fierce rivalry
While England haven’t been entirely convincing in this Six Nations, they are sitting second in the standings on eight points, with only Ireland above them. They are three points clear of the third-placed Scots who need to a win to retain any realistic hope of winning the championship. “It will be physical,” warned de Villiers. “They are a team who can suffocate, and we have to be ready for that.
Scotland’s cause will be aided by the return of WP Nel who is in the frame to be involved this weekend after missing the first two rounds with a neck strain. He played most of the game as Edinburgh beat Zebre last Friday and is vying to be Zander Fagerson’s understudy against England. Elliot Millar-Mills was reserve tighthead for the was utilized in the games against France and Wales, although Fagerson played the entire eighty minutes.
De Villiers stated, “He didn’t show any signs of fatigue, which is why Gregor’s gone with him for the full 80.” Zander had the advantage up until the final scrum, and we think he performed admirably. Though we have a lot of faith in the guys behind him, our number one tighthead performed admirably that day.
Scotland believed they could let go of Javan Sebastian from their team with Nel’s return.
“WP has had a bit more game-time, having played at the weekend, whereas Javan hasn’t played much since his injury,” explained de Villiers. “WP had more than 50 minutes for Edinburgh at the weekend and scrummed very well. Elliot has done very well for us – coming on against Wales he showed a lot of maturity. He’s come from Northampton and slotted in well. He’s deserved the right to be involved with the squad again. It’s great to have greater profundity. It’s great that additional props and front-row guests are showing up. Everything is in healthy competition.
The situation is the similar on the opposite side of the scrum, where Alec Hepburn replaces Pierre Schoeman at loosehead, leaving Jamie Bhatti unhappy with his lack of playing time.
Jamie scrummed well again for Glasgow against the Dragons on Saturday, and there’s a lot going on right now among the looseheads. We have players like Rory Sutherland, who is a Test match performer and isn’t even here right now.
