Six Nations: Scotland are always the underdogs says Chris Cusiter

SCOTLAND scrum-half Chris Cusiter has finished on the winning side and the losing one, and experienced a draw, in the Calcutta Cup, but he insisted that there remained one constant: Scotland are always the underdogs.

With England under new coaches, led by a new skipper with a solitary cap and fielding three debutants in a XV that is more callow than most Calcutta Cup sides in living memory there has been a shift in expectancy on both sides of the border this week.

Scotland’s loss in the last three minutes of the World Cup match in Auckland four months ago is another factor – Scottish and English supporters know that game was the Scots’ for the taking – but Cusiter believes nothing has changed.

He said: “I don’t subscribe to the view that this is a young, new England team and we should beat them because we’ve been together longer. I really don’t believe that at all.

“I think we are big underdogs for this game, as we always are when we play England, and nothing anybody says will convince me otherwise. They have huge resources at their disposal; the number of players they have to choose from in every position far outweighs what we have and I think every time we play England in this modern era they will be favourites.

“That’s just reality. You look at the facts and figures, the resources they have, the number of professional teams they have, the number of professionals they have in England, the number of players they have playing in Europe, and it far outweighs what we have.

“We are underdogs in every way. Italy have more professional players than we do and more senior players playing rugby.

“That is the reality, but it doesn’t mean that we can’t beat these teams when we work hard and put a good team together. I fully expect that we can win but every time we go out and play these games we have to box above our weight to have a chance.” The scrum-half has captained Scotland but was not chosen this time, Ross Ford instead being handed the responsibility after Kelly Brown was forced out by injury. Cusiter missed last year’s championship, his first since making his debut against Wales in 2004, due to a serious knee injury. But the fact he was chosen and happy to attend a media gathering yesterday at Murrayfield, alongside Andy Robinson, was a further sign of the growth of genuine leadership in this Scotland squad.

The 29-year-old has changed his outlook on life and rugby, and how the two knit, largely since the death of his father in 2010, and after returning from a disappointing World Cup, where he played third fiddle to Mike Blair and Rory Lawson, he spoke of enjoying a better rugby-life balance, and simply playing regularly, in the past few months.

“I would have been delighted to do it [the captaincy],” he acknowledged. “It is hard work and there is a lot of pressure that goes with it, but Ross Ford has been playing unbelievably well this season and I dare say he’s more assured of his place than I am, and that probably came into it.

“But I am enjoying things, just playing regularly. And enjoyment comes from winning as well and we have been winning relatively regularly at Glasgow in the league. The Edinburgh guys are coming in full of enthusiasm from playing great rugby in the Heineken Cup, and we have a group that has been together now for a few years, with a couple of new guys. And guys like big Jim Hamilton are great characters in the squad and it’s good fun catching up with these guys.

“But we have been taught over the last few years that enjoyment in this environment comes with winning and there’s no point in playing well and coming second best, losing games by one or two points. That’s really frustrating and can be heart-breaking at times.

“So we’re all determined to show that we’ve learned those lessons and get on the other side of those results.”

There is the cerebral side to the game, which a Scotland team averaging nearly 28 years and over 30 Test matches is looking to tap into, but there is also the less tangible emotional factor that can come into play in this appetising opening match.

The proud Aberdonian agreed, adding: “Every time I’ve played it has felt quite special, with the interest there is in the game, the friends and family wanting to come and watch, the media attention it gets. It’s the one game that everyone wants to come and see.

“You feel that when you walk into the stadium on match-day and go out for the warm-up. It’s exciting and a privilege to be part of this fixture and have a chance to play in it.

“This one also has a different feel because it’s the first game in the tournament, whereas in the past it’s been to the middle or end of the Six Nations. I’m really happy that we’re playing England first-up because the atmosphere and the occasion tends to get the best out of us.

“What we hope for is a fast start to this Six Nations campaign. I think it’s a big factor that we’re at Murrayfield. Obviously, the game has been sold out for a long time and I’m aware of how great an atmosphere it is here for Calcutta Cup games, but we need to give the crowd something to cheer about and get on our side early.” He added: “We really want England to have a bad day here tomorrow. We expect them to come up and play well and we have to make it really hard, and the crowd helps with that, so if we can give them something to cheer about it will definitely help us on.

“There is no mystery to what they [England] are going to bring, and I feel everyone knows that we can win, but it’s all about us playing as well as we can. We can’t play average and win; we have to play as well as we can to win.”