Scotland Six Nations: Murrayfield branded ‘a soulless place’ by 60-cap ex-England international

Toby Flood has unhappy memories of Calcutta Cup

Scotland's Mike Blair lifts the Calcutta Cup after the win over England at Murrayfield in 2008. (Picture: Craig Watson/SNS)

Toby Flood, the former England fly-half, has branded Murrayfield a “weird” and “soulless” stadium and predicted Scotland will win by 10 points in this weekend’s Calcutta Cup clash.

England are unbeaten going into the game following wins over Italy and Wales in their opening two Six Nations matches and lead Scotland by three points in the standings after Gregor Townsend’s side beat Wales away but lost to France at home.

Flood, who was capped 60 times by England, has sympathy for the manner of the French defeat which saw the Scots denied a victory when a last-gasp effort from Sam Skinner was disallowed. He thinks they will use the frustration as motivation against England.

Disappointment for Toby Flood as he reacts after missing a kick to win the match during the 2010 Six Nations Championship match between Scotland and England at Murrayfield. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Flood has mostly bad memories of the fixture and his experiences of playing at Murrayfield are not particularly happy ones. He played at centre in the England side which lost 15-9 to Frank Hadden’s Scotland in 2008 in wet and windy conditions when all the points came from penalties. Mike Blair captained the home side to victory with a man-of-the-match performance as they stifled the threat of Jonny Wilkinson. Their points came from four Chris Paterson penalties and one from Dan Parks. Flood returned to Edinburgh two years later to play in the 15-15 draw against Andy Robinson’s Scotland in another try-less encounter at Murrayfield where Parks kicked all the points for the Scots. Flood came off the bench and had a chance to win the match with a late, long-range penalty but his effort fell short.

“It is quite a soulless stadium,” said Flood, 38, who played for Newcastle, Toulouse and Leicester. “It is more often than not miserable and wet. The stadium feels weird. Maybe it is the running track around the side. You do feel quite distant from the crowd. I have never really enjoyed playing there because the wind comes in swirls around. It is quite a nuanced stadium.”

Flood expects it to be livelier this weekend, even suggesting there is a “hatred” towards England in some quarters. He also thinks Scotland will be galvanised by the manner of their defeat by France and believes match referee Nic Berry and TMO Brian MacNeice were wrong to chalk off Skinner’s try after initially appearing to suggest the ball had been grounded.

“It was a ridiculous decision,” said Flood in an interview with the online gambling site InstantCasino.com. “I can really sympathise with Scotland. It looked like a try. The ball was down. There was no reason to overturn that decision. It was a real shock. They deserved to beat France. They played really well. They look a serious side. Had they beaten France they would have felt something special was on this season.

England inside centre Toby Flood loses out to Scotland scrum-half Mike Blair under the high ball during the Six Nations match at Murrayfield in 2008. Scotland won 15-9. (Photo: PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

“So, they will want to put their season back on track, and that will really pain them. They will come out really flying because of their frustration.”

Despite two wins from two in this season’s Six Nations and a third-placed finish at last year’s Rugby World Cup, Flood hasn’t been overly impressed by Steve Borthwick’s England who he believes are under-powered and too reliant on data. He is pessimistic about their chances on Saturday.

“It will be quite tight,” he said. “England will hang in there for a while, but I think Scotland by ten points, 27-17. It is going to be an uphill battle for England.

“It has become very data driven. It has become very ‘Moneyball’ for want of a better word especially by Steve Borthwick with England. Players are taken off because of GPS data to which coaches have become slaves. There’s little feel now for the game. That is why we have this detached stale game at the moment.

“Borthwick is so data driven. It is all about the metrics with him. He is not necessarily the most empathetic charismatic human being, so he relies heavily on those data and touch points.

“You can see England are trying to do something different. The problem they have got is that they haven’t had any clout at the gain line. Without that you can’t have the players they have selected, [Henry] Slade, [George] Ford, [Tommy] Freeman who are people who can play the piano and orchestrate attacks.

“But international rugby is often won by winning the gain line which allows those skilful players to impress themselves on the opposition. England are without a bit of power. They are running good shapes, and they are trying to keep the ball in hand and attack but there just hasn’t been that cut-throat nature from an international side.”

Despite his misgivings about Murrayfield, Flood wasn’t slow to talk up the rivalry between the age-old adversaries, even making the claim that attitudes around the fixture had become more bitter since the independence referendum in 2014. Flood comes from a theatrical family and he may have been playing to the galleries as he tried to whip up the supposed antagonism towards the visitors.

“There is a real enmity,” he said. “When any England team plays in Scotland the mood of the country, the mood of Edinburgh changes. There is a real level of resentment.

“The hatred for England is there for all to see. Most nations don’t like England, but the Scots in particular with all the talk of independence over the past decade or more, there is always a heightened atmosphere, a frenzy almost.

“If you’re English, Scotland will always turn up against you. You know it is going to be hostile, you know how much they want to beat England, more than any other nation.”