Scotland's rugby ambitions now extend beyond beating England, says Finn Russell

Scots not getting caught up in history and passion of Calcutta Cup clash

Finn Russell believes that dialling down the emotion in the Calcutta Cup has helped Scotland maintain the upper hand in the fixture over the last half-dozen years.

The Scots have lost only one of the last six meetings with their ancient rivals and used to celebrate victories with gusto. Russell said they still celebrate their wins over England but take a more professional approach – before and after the game. While beating England was sometimes seen as defining their season, the stand-off said Scotland’s ambitions now extend beyond getting their hands on the Calcutta Cup.

Scotland are odds-on favourites going into Saturday’s Six Nations match at Murrayfield as they chase a fourth consecutive victory over England for the first time since 1972, and for the first time in the championship since 1896. Russell said his side’s build-up to this weekend’s game had been restrained from an emotional point of view.

Finn Russell says Scotland are not getting caught up in the "history and passion and emotion" of the fixture with England. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

“As a team, we have got ourselves to a place where we are professional building up to the game,” said the Scotland co-captain. “We are not getting too caught up in the history and passion and emotion behind it. I think it has changed over the last few years with results going more in our favour, whereas before it was always a massive win if we beat England.

“There was probably more emotion through the week and that was something that would have been spoken about, whereas this week we’ve not done much of that. There’s almost been the opposite – trying to take that away this week. In the past if we were able to beat England it was a huge result and we used to celebrate it – a lot.

“Don’t get me wrong, we all still celebrate. But it’s a different way. The team has come on a lot and I think the mentality as a group has come on a lot in the last five, 10 years. There’s a lot of things that are similar, but at the same time there’s probably a more professional take on this game.”

Russell said the Calcutta Cup remained a “massive game” but wouldn’t define Scotland's campaign as they seek their highest ever finish in the Six Nations, with away games against Italy and Ireland still to come. “Going back to when I first started playing for Scotland, it was one of the biggest games in the calendar, whereas now I think we have got to a great position where they are all kind of similar,” said Russell. “We are not satisfied just by beating one or two teams in this competition. It is still a massive game and everything behind it with the history, but we have to approach it as just another game and another chance to get a victory.

“A win gets us back on track [and] is the most important thing. In the last couple of campaigns we’ve won three of the five games but we’re looking to progress from that and to do that we have to win the next three games which is no easy feat. That’s our goal as a team, to keep progressing year-on-year and after the disappointment against France we need to do our best to beat England and build on that in the last two games.”