Oh Shite! I Think We Can Win This One

 THE LATE, great, Tommy Burns – one of the finest gentlemen ever to step onto a sports field, is the subject of a great story, which shows his humility. At Wembley, on 21 May, 1988, at roughly 4.30pm, 74 minutes into the annual England v Scotland football international, Andy Roxburgh sent Tam on, to replace Aberdeen's Neil Simpson. But, as he stood up on the Scotland bench, Tam shook his manager's hand, and thanked him for making a dream come true – he would be playing for Scotland, against England.

The 16 minutes of action he enjoyed, if that is the apposite word for playing in a 0-1 defeat, marked Burns' final appearance in a Scotland shirt; but, it was still dream come true time. I wonder if any of the 23-man Scotland squad for Murrayfield on Saturday, a player who has never faced the Auld Enemy, will think to thank Gregor Townsend for the chance to achieve every Scottish boy's sporting dream.

When I was a boy, we Scots all lived by Max Boyce's take on Grantland Rice: When One Great Scorer comes to write against your name, He marks, not that you won or lost, but did you beat England.”

We are now telt, beating England isn't all that important, it's all about the overall Six Nations outcome, or doing well in the World Cup – I don't think the descendants of those who sent Proud Edward and his army homeward to think again, are quite on-message with that one. Stuffing the Saxons still give us a wee additional kick.

So who are the guys who will be channeling their inner Queen, under pressure on Saturday?

Toony announced the following squad (in 1-23 order) this lunch time:

Rory Sutherland, George Turner, Zander Fagerson, Jonny Gray, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Matt Fagerson; Ali Price, Finn Russell, Duhan van der Merwe, Sam Johnson, Chris Harris, Darcy Graham; Stuart Hogg (Captain). Replacements: Stuart McInally, Pierre Schoeman, WP Nel, Sam Skinner, Magnus Bradbury, Ben White, Blair Kinghorn, Sione Tuipulotu.

I am worried now – that's a team which I really fancy can damage England, and, as we all know, with Scotland, it's the hope that kills. Interesting to see Ben White jump straight into the back-up scrum-half role, in his first appearance in a Scotland squad. He is clearly in-line for a cap off the bench.

The prospect of, our two starting props having clearly demonstrated that Messrs Genge and Sinckler are not international-class as pure scrummagers, WP Nel and Pierre Schoeman arriving later on to further damage England's front row, has the old front five donkey in me almost salivating.

AND WHAT of the opposition? Eddie Jones named his squad first, and, again in 1-23 order, it is:

Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Kyle Sinckler, Maro Itoje, Nick Isiekwe, Lewis Ludlam, Tom Curry (Captain) Sam Simmonds; Ben Youngs, Marcus Smith, Joe Marchant, Henry Slade, Elliot Daly, Max Malins, Freddie Steward. Replacements: Jamie George, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, Charlie Ewels, Alex Dombrandt, Harry Randall, George Ford, Jack Nowell.

To be honest, that's a dangerous team for us to be facing. Only Maro Itoje, and maybe Sam Simmonds, would in my view get into a composite XV selected from both squads – so, if we cannot beat that lot, we've got problems.