MARTIN JOHNSON SAYS England must avoid giving Scotland the “scent of victory” in the final 15 minutes of their crunch Six Nations encounter at Murrayfield on Saturday.
England’s Grand Slam credentials will receive a stern test in the Calcutta Cup clash in Edinburgh against a team fancied as pre-tournament contenders for the championship.
Scotland were thrashed 34-7 by Wales in Cardiff in their tournament opener but overturned a 10-point deficit to defeat France 32-26 last time out.
World Cup-winning captain and ex-head coach Johnson has urged England to put the game to bed to avoid suffering the same fate as Les Bleus.
Johnson, speaking at the launch of the inaugural Velo South at the London Bike Show, told Omnisport: “You look at Scotland the last time they played, the last 15 minutes they looked very, very strong.
“They had the scent of victory there and the crowd and the players were suddenly bigger and they probably played their best rugby in the last 15 minutes. If you’re England you don’t want to be in that position.
“Whenever England play anyone they want to beat them, the opposition want to beat them, Scotland, Wales, France, Ireland, they all want to beat England so every game’s big, every game’s fought and won.”
The last round of fixtures sees England host Ireland at Twickenham in what many see as a potential championship and Grand Slam decider.
That scenario remains on the cards, but Johnson thinks the unpredictable nature of the tournament – as evidenced by Wales’ defeat of Scotland – means nothing can be taken for granted.
“Wales go to Ireland with not a lot of pressure on them and that can make them dangerous. This tournament is far more to me a set of individual games than it is a tournament,” he added.
“You almost can’t tell from week to week. The games are so big, I always used to treat it as separate games, not really connected to the week before, the year before, you’ve just got to get over what’s in front of you.
“The world changed after the first week a little bit, it changed again after the second week and it’ll change again after the third week.
“Maybe at the start people were saying Ireland, if they could win away in Paris, would probably get to Twickenham unbeaten but we’ll see. I think Wales have surprised a few people, played very well, it makes all the games exciting, I think you wouldn’t be fully confident of predicting the results at the weekend.”
Martin Johnson is riding the inaugural Velo South – a brand new 100-mile closed road sportive for the UK, held on 23rd September 2018. Pre-registrations close midnight 28th February 2018: www.velosouth.com
- Omni
Leitrims year this year we’ve been knocking on the door for the last 100 years.
Agree. Ye just weren’t good enough the other 32.
Well Niall with Leicester winning – maybe they will!
What county is Leitrem in?
I would say Dublin will win it. I doubt it will be easy this time though. Tyrone have been putting together this side for the past few years and they look to be on the verge of something.
Who’s going to stop the Dubs in fairness? I’m not a Dub & I’m not going to rant about money, Croke Park, sponsorship, population, whatever. No matter what the reason is, they’re the best team in the country & that’s all there is to it.
The best, but not unbeatable. Any of the other top sides can beat them on any given day. Problem with the championship is they wint meet another top side till august.
Ya Tyrone might come close,they have been building & will use arms Knees elbows pulling dragging diving fouling spitting there way to the Top!!
A true a plague of Misery & disease to Football!!
Similar to Kerry and Dublin so…
Its hard to look past the Dubs. But in football you just never know. Kerry,Mayo and Tyrone are the only ones that have a chance of beating them. It’s just a pity we will have to wait until August for clashes between the big teams.
I’m not from Dublin but they will go on and win Sam Maguire again and next year they will do the same. No county in Ireland are good enough to beat Dublin.
Cork waiting in the long grass….
Mayo seem to have plenty of things going well for them. The likes of Evan Regan and Conor O’Shea look well suited to top quality football. Diarmuid o Conner is going from strength to strength and I can see a few of his fellow U21 Winning Teammates making the step up in the next few years possibly even this year . Then again we never know with Mayo do we.
lol Mayo
Mayo.
I’m offended that you haven’t included Down!
Build a bridge Niall
Down? Lmao
Ah come on lads, it’s clearly a joke. We’re feckin terrible.
Some clowns just don’t understand funny
I wouldn’t rule out roscommon after last night’s performance. They will grow in confidence as the year goes on
Probably poll should have been just Dublin or others.
I know this sounds absurd but Dublin are the only good team. The only team I can see challenging them is Tyrone. Kerry don’t have the players they used to and Mayo well they just have yellow bellies to be metaphorical. Dublin also have an amazing benchCostello, McMahon, Small to name a few. Dublin will win and they will win well.
McMahon and Small on the bench?
Silly question the dubs 100%
Big year for Roscommon?
Leitrims year