Scotland – England

Scotland and England will resume their heated rivalry as the two nations meet at Murrayfield in Round 3 of the 2018 Six Nations, with the match also counting for the Calcutta Cup which is played yearly between these two sides.

Scotland entered the tournament with high hopes, as it seemed that the title is a real possibility for them after their recent progress and excellent performances in the year – end Internationals. Unfortunately for the Scots, they suffered a shocking spanking at the hands of Wales in the first round, losing by 27 points (although the margin of defeat wasn`t quite fair). Scotland seemed hung over after that loss in the first half of their next match against France, but in the end recovered to dominate the last half an hour and claimed a solid 6 point win in Round 2.

England didn`t particularly shine in the first two rounds, but still completed the job professionally by beating Italy (by 31) and Wales (by 6). To be fair the English are starting to get used to winning without playing great, as it was the case many times last year as well. Their ability to win this way is impressive, tells you a lot about the discipline and quality of the team, and it`s nothing less than you would expect from the second best rugby side in the world.

Bet on Scotland vs England and claim your 100% (100 Eur) freebet at Ohmbet now!

Team news & lineups:

Scotland continues to miss many guys in the forwards department, but that is nothing new, and they got used to deal with those injuries. The Scots will actually field the exact same lineup which beat France two weeks ago, while England (who also has a few important long term injuries) will make just one change to the team that beat Wales.

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Pete Horne, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Simon Berghan, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Mako Vunipola

Scotland hasn`t beaten England since 2008, but they were never better during all this time than they are right now. Last year England beat them by 40 points (!!) in London, handing their rivals a historic (and surprising) humiliation. As such, the pride Scots will be desperate to avenge all the recent misery against their enemies, and finally get one over them.

England is strong, ruthless and efficient, so the Three Lions are deserving favorites in this clash. However, many of their recent wins have been rather close, and home court advantage will be a big advantage for Scotland.

The Scots weren`t very impressive so far in this tournament, but they have been consistently great in the last two years, and you would definitely expect them to turn up and look better for this big game against England. They already showed a clear progress against France compared to their opening loss in Wales.

Expect the visitors to use their superior power and dominate the forward battle, while Scotland will attempt to play running rugby and make use of their superior wide game. It should be a great battle.

Scotland is definitely good enough to make this a contest even against the mighty England. Just a few months ago Scotland was inches away from beating New Zealand and destroyed Australia at the same venue, so finally claiming a victory over England does not look like an impossibility at all, as long as they can get early ball to their backs. And even if England grinds out a win like they so often do, chances are it will be close – both because of Scotland`s strength, but also because of England’s recent history of winning with narrower margins than expected.

The weather is expected to be good with no precipitations, so that should be an advantage for Scotland’s style of play.

My tip is Scotland to cover the +7.5 point handicap. I think the line is harsh towards the hosts, who proved time and time again that they deserve more respect from the bookies, so I will invest high stakes on this bet. Prediction: Scotland – England 24 – 23.

Pick: Scotland +7,5
Odds: 1.97 @ Sbobet
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 8.73
Event date: 24 February