Six Nations: Andy Farrell tells England to impose order on any chaos

For Farrell, the definition of a good player is one who can impose order on disorder. He suggested that his own team, though short of experience, had the players to cope with whatever Scotland threw at them, and insisted they would not be distracted by Andy Robinson’s suggestion that mayhem would break out this evening.

“Guys know, and Andy knows, the game takes its own shape as it goes,” Farrell said. “We know what he’s trying to do by saying that. We’ll be ready for any type of game that Scotland throw at us. There’s absolutely no doubt about that.”

That readiness, he continued, included an ability to adapt to the weather. In 2000, Clive Woodward’s England headed to Murrayfield targeting a Grand Slam, but were not able to cope with the driving rain. Thirteen years on, Farrell said Stuart Lancaster’s England would not fall prey to the same inability to adapt to circumstances.

“We’ve got a Plan A and a Plan B. We’ve practised well with both and we’re very comfortable with both. We’ve got experienced players in the right parts of the field, who are going to make the right calls to make sure that we go out there and express ourselves and give it a good shout.

“I’m looking forward to the game. Everybody’s excited about it. If we can try and put more drama into it, it adds to the occasion. But good players don’t get drawn into stuff like that. Good players make right decisions at the crucial time. That’s why they play for their country.

“The minute they go out there and go over that white line there’s got to be control. Clever teams are teams that are able to handle all different environments, and you’ve got to be prepared for that.

“We’ll be very confident going into the game. I wouldn’t say we’re that confident, though, that we’ve made any T-shirts yet,” he said, in jocular reference to the public-relations faux pas which saw the SRU briefly advertise ‘Scotland Calcutta Cup winners’ merchandise on its website this week.

That confidence, Farrell believes, is more important than the fact that England are in the unfamiliar position this week of being underdogs in some eyes.

“If you go on experience, of course we will be the underdogs. But we feel we’ve not just got a side for the future, but also one that is picked on form.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys in our side, but young guys that have been playing in massive matches of late. So I think [between] experience and confidence, you’d rather have confidence on your side.”

One of those ‘young guys’ is Farrell’s own son, Owen, who makes his debut today aged 20. Farrell senior, a mere 36 himself, insisted he would treat his offspring no differently from the rest of the squad. “My son is a player like the rest of the boys I coach, and that’s the way it’s been all week,” he said.

Warming to his theme that his players would rise to the occasion, Farrell also suggested that they were more likely to be inspired by the atmosphere than worried by any possible hostility from the home crowd. “Is it hostile? It’s a great place to play. I think it’s exciting more than anything. It is one of the theatres of world rugby. It is a dream to get your first cap, and to do it in a Calcutta Cup game here at Murrayfield, with such history, is extra special.

“We’re hoping to get a great performance that’s going to do everybody proud this weekend. There’s an air of excitement and ‘Let’s get this show on the road’.”

England captain Chris Robshaw, who wins just his second cap today, agreed that he and his team-mates would feel inspired by the occasion and would not be daunted by their relative lack of experience. “Playing at Murrayfield is never going to be easy, but it is something we are all looking forward to,” he said. “The young guys want to go out there and prove a point. They have been doing it for their clubs for so long and now they want to go out there and show the nation what they can do. To come up here in your first Six Nations appearance is special.”

Lancaster’s appointment as England coach is only an interim one, and players such as Robshaw know that their roles may also be temporary if they do not succeed over the coming two months. On the other hand, if they do well in this Six Nations Championship, players such as him who are in their mid-20s can look forward to long stays in the team.

So how good can this England team be? Robshaw may be a novice in the Test arena, but he is too long in the tooth to make himself a hostage to fortune with rash answers to questions like that.

“Only time will tell,” he replied. “We’ll know a lot about ourselves come seven o’clock.”