Scotland coach Gregor Townsend relishing chance to face England in Six Nations opener

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has set his sight on the opportunity to face England in the Six Nations tournament next year.

The Dark Blues had a relatively successful autumn internationals as they defeated Fiji and Argentina while they came close in defeats against Australia and New Zealand with a 15-16 and 23-31 scorelines respectively.

Scotland enjoy a good record against England as since 2018 they won three and secured a draw in the five matches between them. Their last defeat against Eddie Jones' men at Twickenham Stadium came in 2017 and Townsend is hoping to maintain the record.

“England are always going to be tough at Twickenham,” he said.

“Although we won there the last time (in 2021), we are aware there were no supporters there that day.

“It’s a real challenging place to play. We’ve gone there the last two occasions and come away with a draw and a win so we’ll go there with confidence.

“We’ll cross our fingers that we have everybody to select from but it’s a great game to start the Six Nations with, as we have done the last couple of years. It’s a good one for us to get our focus back on to improve our performance.”