Miracles unlikely, but who knows...

Funny things have happened in the history of the championship but nothing funnier than if Scotland beat England at Murrayfield today. I mean funny peculiar rather than funny ha ha, but some might find it difficult to suppress a smile if the Scots turn up another miracle.

Funny things have happened in the history of the championship but nothing funnier than if Scotland beat England at Murrayfield today. I mean funny peculiar rather than funny ha ha, but some might find it difficult to suppress a smile if the Scots turn up another miracle.

Nothing is impossible in this tournament and everyone has a chance if things go their way. If enough Scottish players think a home victory is possible and if the English are complacent enough to think that it is not, then the seeds of another sensation could be sown. But there must be a limit even to England's weakness for falling flat on their faces and it is difficult to see any outcome other than an English Grand Slam.

The two camps would have spent the past week on exactly the opposite approach. The Scots would have been talking themselves up and the English talking themselves down from the clouds to where their confidence has soared. No doubt, Scotland would have been reminded of 10 years ago when they wrecked the English. I can't recall the build-up but it must have been much the same as this one, with Scotland already written off.

England might well have been vulnerable again but for one thing - their shock defeat against Wales at Wembley a year ago. While memories of 1990 are hazy, the English are still hurting from Wembley and the over-confidence they were guilty of then will surely not be repeated today. I'm taking nothing away from that glorious Welsh triumph. England had put 60 points on them the previous year and for them to perform as they did was a great achievement.

England's captain, Law-rence Dallaglio, called a couple of wrong shots and Wales took advantage. I don't think the present English captain will make the same mistakes at Murrayfield. Matt Dawson has developed into an influential player and captain and he won't offer the opposition any mercy.

Dawson's career has been a masterpiece of opportunism. In South Africa in 1998, an injury to Robert Howley gave him a chance that he took with both hands. More recently, he has stepped into Kyran Bracken's boots with devastating effect and has also added the mantle of shrewd captaincy.

Everywhere you look in this England team, there's a player who has enhanced his reputation in the Six Nations. Just as well - the number of top players they've lost would have crippled most other nations. Martin Johnson, for a start. Then Danny Grewcock, Dan Luger, Steve Hanley and Will Greenwood.

The compensation for those losses has been incredible. Jonny Wilkinson has matured in lightning time. Now, he can run a game. Mike Catt has eventually found his niche; Austin Healey is revealing new tricks every week; Ben Cohen arrives from nowhere; the second row of Garath Archer and Simon Shaw are superb; Phil Greening can combine hooking with being an entire back division on his own...

How much credit Clive Woodward should take from this is hard to gauge. But all this can't be an accident. They were screaming for Woodward's blood a few months ago, now he has it all under control, which is why there may not be much room for fairy-tales at Murrayfield.

But Scotland have a reservoir of courage and determination to which there seems no bottom. And they have some good players. I like Chris Patterson, who can turn it on and I refuse to believe that Gregor Townsend hasn't got a miracle or two left, and if the Scottish forwards can get their rucking and mauling going the English can experience the discomfort they've felt at certain stages in their last three games.

Meanwhile, we onlookers can content ourselves with the knowledge that there's no such thing as a foregone conclusion in this tournament.