England V Scotland Predictions

Discuss. I'm going for a 15 - 15 draw again. Really.

Oops I missed out the very obvious option of 'zero' - can a mod change the poll?

I predict a wee riot

I predict a Poopie game that is an awfull advert of rugby, with Dan Parks to attempt a drop goal every time we get into the english 22 and miss most of them. And then the papers the next day will say that we, the fans have too high expectations and are bad supporters for wanting more from our team. Mike Blair will do a radio interview and tell us that thats dans style of play, and if we dont like it, tough. And then we will mold Weir into parks version 2 (although lineens doing a good job of that at glasgow) and go through another 15 years of torment. ill probably top myself after 3 years.

if it's that bad why wait!

Personally i think the Scots will put one over the English; we all know they can do it, they nearly did it last time, they've done it before and they love to do it.

England have gone overboard in trying to cast of the perception problem they made for themselves at RWC, they are almost definitely going to pick a seriously untried team and against a determined smart Scottish side the horribly ugly win is all that counts!

Imperialbigdave wrote:I predict a Poopie game that is an awfull advert of rugby, with Dan Parks to attempt a drop goal every time we get into the english 22 and miss most of them. And then the papers the next day will say that we, the fans have too high expectations and are bad supporters for wanting more from our team. Mike Blair will do a radio interview and tell us that thats dans style of play, and if we dont like it, tough. And then we will mold Weir into parks version 2 (although lineens doing a good job of that at glasgow) and go through another 15 years of torment. ill probably top myself after 3 years.

Simple dont pick Dan Parks?

He is a truely awful player, lacking in skill, kicks far too much, not even a goal kicker and refuses to defend.

When Scotland have so many good flyhalves at their disposal I would actually be quite angry if Parks were selected.

logically it makes sence for scotland to win,

england have a new coach, throwing new players in at the deep end and have a lot to prove after the world cup,

scotland have the home advantage, a pretty settled squad just now and our newbies will just slot in over time, in the heineken cup there isnt an english club topping any group:O but edinburgh top theres and glasgow second,

i really hope this year goes right for scotland as they do alot of things right and are just a very unlucky team, we have the squad that we could beat any one in this competion, just need to use the squad and get a bit of consistancy to our results,

I used to think Scotland was unlucky but eventually you have to admit it's to do with composure instead of luck. I used to think the opposite for Wales - they get lucky, often, but then I had to eventually admit they have a mentality of winning. I'm comparing them to Scotland here - I think Wales & Scotland have equal talent in their squads but Wales always seem to do better than Scotland. Check out Cardiff 2 years ago for an admittedly extreme example, but an example nonetheless.

With Robshaw as the England captain, England will teach those Scottish savages a lesson. England by 30+

I worry where our grizzly powerhouse forwards are....I fear if we lose this will be a big factor....

KickAndChase wrote:Oops I missed out the very obvious option of 'zero' - can a mod change the poll?

Added 'None' option in for you, KickAndChase. (It wouldn't accept '0')

I went for 2 tries, btw.

England will cream them.

By how many Alyn?

In all reality, England should take this one at a canter. Possibly a tight first half as the new combinations gell. But England are in a different class altogether unfortunately (for the competition).

Should be an utter rout. I expect England to score at least 10 tries.

So a 5+ for you then, mitey.

I've been too guilty of over-predicting the number of tries (and points) recently - in both the HC and the Pro12 so I thought I'd go stingy on this one. I'm hoping Scotland can slow things down and frustrate their old enemy.

the pressure is on them before they even arrive. everyone seems to look down on the scots and its ridiculous, for the population we have (5 million) in a primarily football country we do very well. its only just started to grow in scotland now and this is already showing by the number of younger players starting to come through,

to be honest the english are just arrogant and i would not be that worried about them coming along, much more concerned about the france and ireland games as thats the ones playing the best rugby.

england just kid themselves alot

miteyironpaw wrote:In all reality, England should take this one at a canter. Possibly a tight first half as the new combinations gell. But England are in a different class altogether unfortunately (for the competition).

Should be an utter rout. I expect England to score at least 10 tries.

I'll offer you a 20:1 odds on any amount of money for your hypothesis of 10 tries. Seriously.

My 15-15 draw was a bit of a joke - I sincerely expect Scotland to frustrate England as usual - if England plays a less experienced team I expect Scotland to sneak it with a 3 pointer. If England have more experience I expect a repeat of the world cup - Ashton to score a try in the last 10 minutes to win by less than a score.

I think there'll be 2 tries.

38-12 to Scotland

i think it will be more open than usual with England likely to have Hodgson, Barritt, Farell, Ashton and Foden in the back-line they are alot more creative and elusive, and Scotland will give this one a good go i think the score-line will be something like 20 - 16 to England

KickAndChase wrote:

miteyironpaw wrote:In all reality, England should take this one at a canter. Possibly a tight first half as the new combinations gell. But England are in a different class altogether unfortunately (for the competition).

Should be an utter rout. I expect England to score at least 10 tries.

I'll offer you a 20:1 odds on any amount of money for your hypothesis of 10 tries. Seriously.

My 15-15 draw was a bit of a joke - I sincerely expect Scotland to frustrate England as usual - if England plays a less experienced team I expect Scotland to sneak it with a 3 pointer. If England have more experience I expect a repeat of the world cup - Ashton to score a try in the last 10 minutes to win by less than a score.

I think there'll be 2 tries.

If you like. It seriously should not be a problem for England. We set our sights higher than that these days. In reality England should be genuine contenders for the #1 position and world cup title in 2015. It's only through mis-management that we fell from the #1 spot at the dawn of professional rankings. I think some of those things are being put right now, and I expect England to lay down a marker in this years 6N. That's the way NZ would think, or SA, or Australia and we have to think the same way and stop this self-effacing carry on which frankly just patronises the opposition.

I dont know what to think about how many tries will be scored , but Murryfield for England is always a tough game. England are fielding a nearly brand new team compaired to what they had in the Rugby World Cup.

For me though it will all depend on how the first half goes, if England score early and go in front at half time then i would expect England to win. But if Scotland go in front at half time, then England could well come off the losers.

I am expecting a tight game to be honest.

miteyironpaw wrote:

KickAndChase wrote:

miteyironpaw wrote:In all reality, England should take this one at a canter. Possibly a tight first half as the new combinations gell. But England are in a different class altogether unfortunately (for the competition).

Should be an utter rout. I expect England to score at least 10 tries.

I'll offer you a 20:1 odds on any amount of money for your hypothesis of 10 tries. Seriously.

My 15-15 draw was a bit of a joke - I sincerely expect Scotland to frustrate England as usual - if England plays a less experienced team I expect Scotland to sneak it with a 3 pointer. If England have more experience I expect a repeat of the world cup - Ashton to score a try in the last 10 minutes to win by less than a score.

I think there'll be 2 tries.

If you like. It seriously should not be a problem for England. We set our sights higher than that these days. In reality England should be genuine contenders for the #1 position and world cup title in 2015. It's only through mis-management that we fell from the #1 spot at the dawn of professional rankings. I think some of those things are being put right now, and I expect England to lay down a marker in this years 6N. That's the way NZ would think, or SA, or Australia and we have to think the same way and stop this self-effacing carry on which frankly just patronises the opposition.

Name your price

To be clear - ENGLAND ALONE have to score 10 tries

Or...slapbet?

poddy89 wrote:the pressure is on them before they even arrive. everyone seems to look down on the scots and its ridiculous, for the population we have (5 million) in a primarily football country we do very well. its only just started to grow in scotland now and this is already showing by the number of younger players starting to come through,

to be honest the english are just arrogant and i would not be that worried about them coming along, much more concerned about the france and ireland games as thats the ones playing the best rugby.

england just kid themselves alot

Ah yeah i was waiting for it to be rolled out...the old "english are arrogant" line.....

I'm sick of all the pretend self effacing nonsense that we have to carry on with year-in-year-out.

I'm hoping now that the principality is devolved and the Scots have gone openly hostile (get a move on if you're moving out...) and the pretense of this "united" kingdom is laid bare, we should now be free to get on with saying what we've always wanted to say. Which is that frankly, the 6N is a two horse race between France and England. And the French horse heavily favors his home track. Even turning up for half of the games is largely a waste of time and I'm sorry to say that Scotland is one of them.

Comedy gold, mitey

miteyironpaw wrote:I'm sick of all the pretend self effacing nonsense that we have to carry on with year-in-year-out.

I'm hoping now that the principality is devolved and the Scots have gone openly hostile (get a move on if you're moving out...) and the pretense of this "united" kingdom is laid bare, we should now be free to get on with saying what we've always wanted to say. Which is that frankly, the 6N is a two horse race between France and England. And the French horse heavily favors his home track. Even turning up for half of the games is largely a waste of time and I'm sorry to say that Scotland is one of them.

First class contribution mate

Linebreaker wrote:So a 5+ for you then, mitey.

I've been too guilty of over-predicting the number of tries (and points) recently - in both the HC and the Pro12 so I thought I'd go stingy on this one. I'm hoping Scotland can slow things down and frustrate their old enemy.

Sorry Line,you've broken a fundamental rule of 6ns lore there matey. When refering to England and Scotland the word 'old' should always (and i mean always!) be substituted with the word 'auld'. This is the word, so let it be done.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

miteyironpaw wrote:I'm sick of all the pretend self effacing nonsense that we have to carry on with year-in-year-out.

I'm hoping now that the principality is devolved and the Scots have gone openly hostile (get a move on if you're moving out...) and the pretense of this "united" kingdom is laid bare, we should now be free to get on with saying what we've always wanted to say. Which is that frankly, the 6N is a two horse race between France and England. And the French horse heavily favors his home track. Even turning up for half of the games is largely a waste of time and I'm sorry to say that Scotland is one of them.

First class contribution mate

So then; no chance of Wales or Ireland making a late charge down the straight? Or will they have to be true stayers; out of the gates early and lead all the way for the full 1600m?

Of course France and your team will always be the most heavily backed favourites. I do think you'll do well again this year but I'd like to see other nations upset the apple cart.

It might sound a bit harsh I know, after years of pandering and this "We respect the Scottish, especially at Murrayfield", but let's face it Scotland have more wooden spoons than Jamie Oliver and have never won a single 6N. On the other hand, England have won a world cup and are the current 6N champions.

It should be a routine walk over and pretending otherwise is just being patronising our Scottish neighbours.

I'm sure they'll respect this point of view and agree that freeing ourselves of this ongoing awkwardness is just going to be a relief to both parties.

miteyironpaw wrote:It might sound a bit harsh I know, after years of pandering and this "We respect the Scottish, especially at Murrayfield", but let's face it Scotland have more wooden spoons than Jamie Oliver and have never won a single 6N. On the other hand, England have won a world cup and are the current 6N champions.

It should be a routine walk over and pretending otherwise is just being patronising our Scottish neighbours.

I'm sure they'll respect this point of view and agree that freeing ourselves of this ongoing awkwardness is just going to be a relief to both parties.

Whereas I will agree with you that Scotland stand no chance of winning the tournament, they still stand a chance of beating any of the nations on any given day, and stand a chance of doing it up to three times in any given tournament. Maybe this will improve, but like said above, they can upset the apple cart.

If the two teams played a series of 7 games in 2 months I would not for once second expect Scotland to win the series.

I agree with you totally. It's important that we speak about these things openly and don't continue with the faux-respect. Look, no offence, but if we don't give you a decent hiding we're going to feel like we underachieved. If Scotland do happen to win, then good on them and I'll be the first to admit they deserved it (probably, pending the actual events of course). But let's just face facts. England should wipe the floor with them, every time.

miteyironpaw wrote:I agree with you totally. It's important that we speak about these things openly and don't continue with the faux-respect. Look, no offence, but if we don't give you a decent hiding we're going to feel like we underachieved. If Scotland do happen to win, then good on them and I'll be the first to admit they deserved it (probably, pending the actual events of course). But let's just face facts. England should wipe the floor with them, every time.

mitey, that is absolutely true, but then again, that's not unique to England playing Scotland - England should be world champs at a canter every 4 years, and 6Ns winners every year as well, in theory?

In theory yes AsLongAs, and it's about time that we started standing up and saying so openly instead of being dragged down by humility and trying to be the underdog all the time. I'm tired of it.

I'm not so sure that's the English way these days - trying to be the underdog all the time. Surely you guys are not short in coming forward letting us know that you are No. 1 in cricket, almost there in rugby... and I really dread this Olympic year. (even though it's a combined GB effort - the majority of the medals will be won by England's athletes)

I'm sure you're about to let the whole world know: "England Rulz"... again!

Yes, let's shout the queen a new yacht after all.

And invade somewhere. We haven't invaded anywhere for ages.

miteyironpaw wrote:In theory yes AsLongAs, and it's about time that we started standing up and saying so openly instead of being dragged down by humility and trying to be the underdog all the time. I'm tired of it.

Actually the theory itself is flawed as:
Jack killed the Giant,
David killed Goliath,
Jerry killed Tom (many times),
Britain ruled the World (you'll like that one;)),
Eartlings 1 - Martians Nil; War of the Worlds
...............And, the best side in the World at a game called Rugby is New Zealand.

Small always wins in the end.................if they survive long enough! Over to you Scotland, prove my theory right.

PS: Scrap the Martians one as Mars IS smaller than Earth.

That's the spirit, mitey!

How well defended is Brittany, Normandy & Aquitaine these days?

Look, Stop weighing in with logic and statistics when I'm being patriotic.

miteyironpaw wrote:I agree with you totally. It's important that we speak about these things openly and don't continue with the faux-respect. Look, no offence, but if we don't give you a decent hiding we're going to feel like we underachieved. If Scotland do happen to win, then good on them and I'll be the first to admit they deserved it (probably, pending the actual events of course). But let's just face facts. England should wipe the floor with them, every time.

I didn't say you should wipe the floor with us. On current form it's about 55% that you should beat us by a score, or maybe two ... 40% that we'll beat you. 5% for all remaining outliers. Over a course of seven matches that means you'd have a pretty good chance of winning the series (especially considering that at Twickenham I'd give you 80%). But no floor wiping, and certainly not every time. Reel your head in.

With both sides fielding so many uncapped players it's anyone's guess what's going to happen. I'd like to think that England could put in a decent performance without too much expectation heaped on them, but have a horrible feeling it'll be poor running rugby weather and we'll come out none the wiser as to what either side are actually like. Please don't let it become an endless, aimless kick-fest....

nobbled wrote:With both sides fielding so many uncapped players it's anyone's guess what's going to happen. I'd like to think that England could put in a decent performance without too much expectation heaped on them, but have a horrible feeling it'll be poor running rugby weather and we'll come out none the wiser as to what either side are actually like. Please don't let it become an endless, aimless kick-fest....

I'm not convinced Scotland will field that many new caps - I can think of 2: Calman & Denton, with 1 inexperienced (Rennie) and maybe a new member of the back line (Hogg or Jones).

It's the Calcutta Cup in Murrayfield. It'll be a kickfest.

KickAndChase wrote:

miteyironpaw wrote:I agree with you totally. It's important that we speak about these things openly and don't continue with the faux-respect. Look, no offence, but if we don't give you a decent hiding we're going to feel like we underachieved. If Scotland do happen to win, then good on them and I'll be the first to admit they deserved it (probably, pending the actual events of course). But let's just face facts. England should wipe the floor with them, every time.

I didn't say you should wipe the floor with us. On current form it's about 55% that you should beat us by a score, or maybe two ... 40% that we'll beat you. 5% for all remaining outliers. Over a course of seven matches that means you'd have a pretty good chance of winning the series (especially considering that at Twickenham I'd give you 80%). But no floor wiping, and certainly not every time. Reel your head in.

I challenge you, sir, to validate those statistics. Do England really win 55% of games? The long term statistic suggest this is true. But since the dawn of professionalism Scotland have recorded just four wins over England, and that is being generous with the start date for professionalism.

No, I think you'll find a 7 game series would be won 7-0 by England most years. 6-1 on good years for Scotland.

I'm not trying to start a nationalistic fight here, just trying to speak some honest truth.

Seems massively optimistic to me to asume that an untried England side are going to go to Murrayfield and run away with the game. Don't get me wrong, I'd be delighted. We could then go on to steamroller our way to a Grand Slam, the recession will officially be over, reality TV will be banned, Jedward exiled to Mars and the Olympics come in massively under-budget.
But until I see what they actually play like as a team - staying cautious!

miteyironpaw wrote:

I challenge you, sir, to validate those statistics. Do England really win 55% of games? The long term statistic suggest this is true. But since the dawn of professionalism Scotland have recorded just four wins over England, and that is being generous with the start date for professionalism.

No, I think you'll find a 7 game series would be won 7-0 by England most years. 6-1 on good years for Scotland.

I'm not trying to start a nationalistic fight here, just trying to speak some honest truth.

Have a look at the last few years stats.

Its a close thing - its awhile since a cuffing and England have not won at murreyfeild since 2004

TJ wrote:

miteyironpaw wrote:

I challenge you, sir, to validate those statistics. Do England really win 55% of games? The long term statistic suggest this is true. But since the dawn of professionalism Scotland have recorded just four wins over England, and that is being generous with the start date for professionalism.

No, I think you'll find a 7 game series would be won 7-0 by England most years. 6-1 on good years for Scotland.

I'm not trying to start a nationalistic fight here, just trying to speak some honest truth.

Have a look at the last few years stats.

Its a close thing - its awhile since a cuffing and England have not won at murreyfeild since 2004

Thank you, exactly. The %s were ex-ante based and off the top of my head - in reality only one team (or neither) will win, but these are my forecasts, based on more what TJ has pointed out.

The way you talk you make it sound like if England even beat Scotland by only a score then Lancaster should be sacked immediately. Don't think that's how it would go if you ask me.

Teh last 7 years 6 nations games is 2 wins scotland, 4 england, 1 draw

TJ wrote:Teh last 7 years 6 nations games is 2 wins scotland, 4 england, 1 draw

England also haven't scored a try at Murrayfield since 2004. So all this talk of them running away with it is a bit over the top.

Linebreaker wrote: That's the spirit, mitey!

How well defended is Brittany, Normandy & Aquitaine these days?

And why would we want to invade Farnce ffs? What we English should do is re-claim the Commonwealth countries by force that escaped during the 20th century. Those with an abundence of natural resources such as Austrailia and Canada should be the first targets