Scotland unfazed by England's Jones-inspired blitz - 'we can take the chances that will be out there'

Much-vaunted defensive tactics worked for Boks, but Russell believes he can find a way past Red Rose

Not much fazes Finn Russell and as he approaches his ninth Calcutta Cup match, the Scotland co-captain is confident he can navigate a way round England’s new blitz defence at Murrayfield on Saturday.

The visitors have borrowed from the South African playbook, recruiting the Springboks’ double World Cup-winning defence consultant Felix Jones to implement their new strategy. Jones, a former Ireland international, has decamped from Cape Town to Twickenham and become assistant coach to Steve Borthwick.

England are expected to swarm around Russell and his midfield colleagues in an effort to neutralise Scotland, but the stand-off has no issue with the possibility of being singled out because he believes it will create opportunities for others, with Sione Tuipulotu, Huw Jones and the returning Blair Kinghorn all ready to step up as second receiver.

Scotland co-captains Finn Russell and Rory Darge during the team run at Murrayfield ahead of the Calcutta Cup clash against England. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

“I’m not sure what England are going to do – if they are going to fire out the line and try to take me out or shut me down from the outside,” said Russell. “That is something we will have to figure out in the game. We will have to be able to adapt, with myself and Sione and Huw being on the same page and having Blair out wide as another option. Although the 10 controls a lot of the attack, it is not just down to me to create things. We will be looking to other boys to get away from them.”

South Africa effectively nullified Russell and Scotland when the sides met at the World Cup in France in September but the Boks’ blitz defence had been honed over a number of years. Jones has worked with England for only a few weeks and Italy and Wales have already exposed vulnerabilities. They’ve had two weeks to work on it since but Russell knows that rushing up on him will create space in behind or out wide and no-one in the game is better than the Scotland 10 at exploiting such opportunities.

“If you get really quick ball on the front foot, it’s easier,” he said. “If you are on the back foot and slightly out of position, it’s tough. A blitz defence can get a lot of rewards on the back of it through mistakes if they catch you behind the gain line. It’s all your eggs in one basket.

“I think South Africa are the best in terms of having the blitz defence and the cover in behind chasing – some of the back row go in behind the scrum and chase across in case of anything so that’s the safety net. If you unlock it you then have the challenge of cover coming across. I’ve not seen enough of the last two England games and teams getting round them and that safety net coming across so hopefully we can get round them or through them on Saturday.”

Felix Jones, the England defence coach, issues instructions during a training session.

The South Africa match in Marseille was a sobering experience for the Scots and both Russell and coach Gregor Townsend expressed frustration this week over the team’s failure to take the few opportunities that came their way in the 18-3 defeat. “There were chances in that game against South Africa that we probably never saw on the pitch,” said Russell. “Under pressure we probably went into our shell a little bit. On Saturday we just need to have belief in ourselves and trust the work we have put in over the last six months to a year and stay on task. At times we will be under pressure and it will be tough, but we can fall back to what we have done this week and the last few weeks building up to this game. We can have belief and confidence in ourselves and hopefully we can take the chances that will be out there.”

Russell admitted he was surprised at England’s decision to drop full-back Freddie Steward and replace him with the more attack-minded George Furbank and is also wary of the threat posed by Ollie Lawrence, who has come into the side at inside centre and offers a more muscular threat than Fraser Dingwall, the man he replaces. “He brings something different to Dingwall,” said Russell. “I know Ollie from playing at Bath, I’ve only played seven or eight games with him but Cam [Redpath] knows him well. He gives them some directness in attack but in defence he likes that blitz and he likes coming through the back to put shots on boys so he’ll be a danger man for them so we’ll try to shut him down through our defence as best we can but in attack we’ll know what he will try and do. He’s not played in a few weeks so I’m not sure how much he’s trained with England in terms of that blitz defence, but I think that’s a style of defence he likes so he’ll be a threat for us both sides of the ball.”

Russell has enjoyed four wins and one memorable draw against England in the last six years and although he has revelled in the successes there were some tough times in his early days of Test career. He lost his first three matches against them – including a record 61-21 defeat in 2017 – and he doesn’t take the recent dominance for granted. He pinpoints the 2018 win as a turning point and also cites coming back from 31-0 down to earn a draw at Twickenham a year later as key to Scotland wresting control of a fixture England have traditionally dominated.

“So it’s been something that’s been building,” he said. “It’s not just one result, it’s something that’s taken time to change. You might have some boys in the team that have only ever won against England – they won’t know what it’s like to concede 60 points down at Twickenham. Unfortunately, I do.”

Russell still bears the scars and it’s part of the reason why he is determined to nullify England's blitz.

Scotland v England: Guinness Six Nations, Saturday 4.45pm, Murrayfield. TV: live on BBC1.

Scotland: 15. Blair Kinghorn; 14. Kyle Steyn, 13. Huw Jones, 12. Sione Tuipulotu, 11. Duhan van der Merwe; 10. Finn Russell (co-capt), 9. Ben White; 1. Pierre Schoeman, 2. George Turner, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Grant Gilchrist, 5. Scott Cummings, 6. Jamie Ritchie, 7. Rory Darge (co-capt), 8. Jack Dempsey.

Replacements: 16. Ewan Ashman, 17. Alec Hepburn, 18. Elliot Millar-Mills, 19. Sam Skinner, 20. Andy Christie, 21. George Horne, 22. Ben Healy, 23. Cameron Redpath,

England: 15. George Furbank; 14. Tommy Freeman, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Ollie Lawrence, 11. Elliot Daly; 10. George Ford, 9. Danny Care; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Jamie George (capt), 3. Dan Cole, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Ollie Chessum, 6. Ethan Roots, 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Ben Earl.

Replacements: 16. Theo Dan, 17. Joe Marler, 18. Will Stuart, 19. George Martin, 20. Chandler Cunningham-South, 21. Ben Spencer, 22. Fin Smith, 23. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

Referee: Andrew Brace (IRFU).