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Watch: Barclay labels England 'massive favourites' for Calcutta Cup
By Peter Thompson
Scotland captain John Barclay feels England are "massive favourites" for Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield.
Holders England have won their first two Six Nations matches as they aim to become the first team to win the tournament outright three years in a row.
Scotland have not beaten the 'auld enemy' for a decade and Barclay knows they will have their work cut out in Edinburgh this weekend.
"They've obviously won their first two games [against Italy and Wales], two quite different games, won in different fashions," said the back-row forward.
"They are one of the best teams in the world, their record is fantastic. They come here as massive favourites.
"They are a quality side with the quality players throughout. It's a big challenge for us to stop them."
England beat Wales last time out and Barclay was given a debrief by some of his Scarlets team-mates during the break between international matches.
He added: "I went into the club on the week off and just had a little chat with some of them [Scarlets' Wales contingent] but the footage is there for you to see their strategies.
"They [Wales] gave away two penalties in the whole game - I don't know if that's ever been done before, that disciplined.
"They had a very clear strategy, a few calls here or there and the game could have gone the other way."
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Even with absences we still had the cattle to make the playoffs. As it was, we nearly stumbled our way into the top 8. Which shows just how easy it was to get there. And still we failed. As for Razor, there are many instances of him patching up the Crusaders roster. Numerous. Several players I'd never heard of. Also, using AB legend John Afoa was a classic.
But, some of the games we were losing were from schoolboy errors, or downright confusion. Either the players were really dumb (they weren’t) or they were poorly coached. Given the repetitive nature of errors, brain fades, poor decision making, & loose structures, this all lands with the coaching group.
With only six playoff spots now in SR, & Aussie franchises now consolidated to four, 2025 looks like a tight one. I'm picking we'll have to tough it out under Penney & hope for the best.
Go to commentsAgree we need a 10, 12, 13 refresh. ASAP. Well, next season now lol. Reiko should be put back on the wing. He'll be an absolute menace there. Imagine 11 Reiko 14 Clarke 15 Jordan as the backfield unit.
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