‘Weedy forwards’: How Scotland are using Six Nations barb to their advantage

Scotland are over in Spain at the moment as they prepare for Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash with England at the stadium formerly known as Twickenham. Despite their exile, they have managed to stay on top of the news and one headline in particular caught the eye of Pete Horne over the weekend.

It referred to England’s back five forwards, a powerful enough group who got the better of France last time out and are being tipped to do the same to Scotland on Saturday. ‘Famous five must show weedy Scots no mercy’ ran the heading in the English broadsheet and Horne admitted it “made him giggle”.

“I've been chucking that at the boys a little bit today, just to wind them up,” said the Scotland assistant coach. “There's always a bit of spice in a Calcutta Cup game and I'm sure it'll be no different this year.

“That's the sort of thing, certainly if I was a player, it would annoy me. I'd be looking forward to getting out on the park and proving everyone wrong.”

“Weedy” isn’t the word that immediately springs to mind when you think of Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist and other behemoths in the Scotland pack but the adjective was more to do with the level of performance against Ireland who outpowered the home side at Murrayfield in round two, winning 32-18.

As Scotland lost, England flourished, beating France 26-25 with as impressive a performance as they’ve had under Steve Borthwick. It means they go into this Saturday’s match with their tails up.

“I think that's something that England pride themselves on as well, isn't it? The physicality of their pack. They've got a lot of big men who enjoy that confrontational side of the game,” added Horne.

“It was an area that we were a bit disappointed with last weekend, as you'd imagine. We've done our review. There's been a lot of honest conversations. I know our boys are really keen to get out and right some wrongs.

“There's not really a better challenge than going to Twickenham and taking on a pack that are off the back of a good win against a monster pack in France as well. They'll absolutely be looking to impose their dominance on us. But, like I said, it's a great challenge.

“If we're serious about staying involved in the tournament and the hunt for the competition, then we've got to go down and do this this weekend. We're looking forward to it.”

England have lost four in a row to Gregor Townsend’s side, two of the defeats coming at Twickenham, but will still go into Saturday’s renewal as firm favourites. The away victories achieved in 2021 and 2023 are all the more impressive when you consider Scotland’s grisly history at Twickenham and the recent memory of winning there will stand the current squad in good stead, according to Horne.

“Recently the boys have done really well,” said the coach. “We've had some good results against them. Twickenham has been a tough place to go over the years. We've not done too well until recently. But that's what's great about it. The boys have got experience of going down there and getting results. So I think you need to make sure we're not caught off guard by the physicality that they're going to bring.

“There's been a lot in the press about them imposing their physicality on our weedy forwards, if you like. So I think we'll need to make sure we're ready to match that. Our guys are certainly up for the physical challenge, especially off the back of a disappointing result last weekend. I think we'll need to make sure we go down and we're ready to go on that front.

“I think we've shown we've got the game that can cause them a lot of problems. But [England are] in a good spot at the moment. They're off the back of a brilliant result. I think they'll be full of confidence. The crowd will be trying to get behind them and it's a massive game for them, with us having won the last four.

“There'll be a little bit of needle to add to what's always a very big game with the rivalry that's there. It's always a good challenge for our boys to get back on the horse and stay in the tournament. We've got everything to play for.”

Having beaten Italy in their opener then lost to Ireland, Scotland know that a win is essential to keep alive their slim title hopes. The Irish top the table with a maximum 10 points, followed by France and England on six and Scotland on five. Townsend’s team face Wales at home and France away in their final two games but it’s England first and Horne expects the Scots to be fuelled by the “desperation” of what is essentially a win-or-bust scenario.

“In a way, if anything, it just totally focuses your mind completely on it,” he said. “Not that you'd ever look too far ahead, but nobody can look past this game at the weekend. We've got to go out there and perform. There will be that desperation. That's what we want to see. We want to see that desperation to stay in the tournament and to get a really good win.”

A famous five in a row? Now that would be a headline worth reading.