England ready to match Scotland’s passion, says Richard Cockerill

England have won only one of the last five meetings ahead of Saturday’s Six Nations opener.

Richard Cockerill says England will match Scottish fury (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Archive)

Richard Cockerill insists England are ready to match Scottish passion in Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash as they aim to launch the Steve Borthwick era with a triumph at Twickenham.

England have not won at home in the fixture since 2017 and have managed a solitary victory in the last five meetings, although they are still backed by bookmakers to make a successful start to the Guinness Six Nations.

Former Edinburgh boss Cockerill, the only surviving assistant from Eddie Jones’ management team, knows the fury that will be brought by Scotland, having faced them twice as a combative hooker in the late 1990s.

But England’s forwards coach insists they will be met head on with the rivals separated only by the quality of their play.

“I can assure you that we will have enough passion to match the Scots’ passion. Then it will be down to who plays the best rugby,” the former Leicester hooker said.

“When I was a player, it was the rivalry and realising how competitive the Scots are against the English. I still live in Edinburgh so I see that every day.

“It’s a huge game. We know it means a lot to Scotland and it means a hell of a lot to us as an England team. The rivalry is going to be keen.

“They’re a good side and are going to be confident coming here because they’ve had a great record against us in the last few years. So we’ve got everything to do.”