Northern Edition
Select Edition
Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Former England hooker predicts easy win at Murrayfield

England centre Jonathan Joseph races away during a hammering of Scotland in 2017

Lee Mears expects England to overpower Scotland and stay on course to make history with a Calcutta Cup victory at Murrayfield on Saturday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Scotland have not beaten the auld enemy for a decade and suffered a 61-21 drubbing at Twickenham last year.

Gregor Townsend’s men were soundly beaten by Wales in the opening game of the Six Nations, but responded with a victory over France before the break.

England have won two out of two as they strive to become the first team to win the tournament outright three years in a row and Mears has backed Eddie Jones’ men to overcome their fierce rivals from north of the border in Edinburgh.

Speaking at the Tournoi des 6 Stations Orangina, the former England hooker told Omnisport: “I think we have got too much for them up front.

Video Spacer

“We saw what Scotland can’t do against the Welsh in the first game, but what they can do if you kick loosely to them, as the French found.

“I don’t think we’ll give them that much space, so unfortunately if you are a Scotland fan, I think you’ll see a good England win. At the same time, Scotland are always tough to beat up there.

ADVERTISEMENT

“They spoiled the party last year by turning Ireland over and they will be looking to do that to us as well, but I expect an England win.”

Although Mears feels England could adopt a more expansive style of play, he says winning is all that matters. 

He added: “We know when we play we can be dangerous. At the moment Eddie has got them so organised and Faz [Owen Farrell] makes all the right decisions, against Wales it was a case of just turn them around and win the game.

“At the moment, it’s about winning. Eddie will be happy just to keep building and reeling the wins off.”

ADVERTISEMENT

 

– Mears was among the former internationals competing in the Tournoi des 6 Stations Orangina [The 6 Stations Tournament] on the snow in the French Alps from February 12-18. For more information on the event visit http://tournoides6stations.com/en/

Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT
Play Video

South Africa vs Black Ferns XV | Women's International | Full Match Replay

Play Video

England vs Spain | Women's International | Full Match Replay

Play Video

Classic Wallabies vs British & Irish Legends | Second Match | Full Match Replay

Play Video

Ireland vs Scotland | Women's International | Full Match Replay

Play Video

Should the Lions’ last-minute try have stood? | Whistle Watch

Play Video

Lions Share | Episode 6

Play Video

KOKO Show | July 29th | George Gregan Stops by to lift spirits after the MCG Madness

Play Video

Historic Lions Series win at the MCG | Ep 7: The Ultimate Test

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Long Reads

Comments on RugbyPass

T
Tom 1 hour ago
Damning image of Lion emerges after series win with major backlash online

Well that is scientifically correct but I've never thought of him as being especially short. He seems to be about the same height as Furlong, fairly average prop size. I think his massive quads give the illusion that he's shorter.


https://extra.ie/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/1-70.jpg


Even though squatting the same weight requires more force for someone with longer levers, his max squat may be significantly higher than some other props. There is a vid of him repping out 230kg for a set of 8 and he's reputed to have a 1RM of 350kg so by anyone's standards, regardless of how short you are, that's very strong.

31 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Watch: Possible All Black debutant fends off 30-Test midfielder in the NPC Possible All Black debutant fends off 30-Test midfielder in the NPC