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'Emotional' England vow to end Scotland run with 'beating-your-chest fury'
By PA
Captain Maro Itoje admits England must supplement “blind, beating-your-chest fury” with calm heads and composure in order to wrestle back the Calcutta Cup.
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Scotland head to Twickenham on Saturday seeking a record-breaking fifth consecutive win over their fiercest rivals, having lost just one of the last seven meetings dating back to 2018.
Saracens lock Itoje, who started each of his country’s four successive losses in the fixture, is braced for an “absolutely huge” encounter as both sides strive to stay in contention for Guinness Six Nations glory.
The 30-year-old is determined to right recent wrongs and “change the narrative” by ending sustained Scottish domination.
“Scotland have had a number on us for a few years and that’s something we’re not proud about,” said Itoje.
“That’s something we are massively motivated to try to overturn.
“You don’t want blind rage and you don’t want blind, beating-your-chest fury, but you need some of that.
“Rugby is not a game of brute force alone, you need accuracy and you need to have the composure to identify space and execute.
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“Rugby is an emotional game. In my humble opinion, it is a game that requires more emotion than most other sports because of the nature of what we do.
“We want our team to be full of emotion. But we want that accuracy. We don’t want blind emotion that clouds your judgement.
“This is an absolutely huge game. It is a brilliant opportunity to change the narrative there and get England back to winning the Calcutta Cup.”
Following defeat to reigning champions Ireland on the opening weekend of the tournament, Steve Borthwick’s men bounced back by beating France 26-25.
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The last-gasp victory over Les Bleus was England’s first success against a major rival since ultimately denying the Irish back-to-back Grand Slams in round four of last year’s championship.
Itoje, who replaced Jamie George as skipper ahead of this campaign, is eager to ensure the team’s latest statement result is not another flash in the pan.
“We need to seize our moments; in any game you have a finite amount of moments that are there for you to take,” he replied when asked how England avoid a further false dawn.
“In the games after that Ireland win, whether it was France or in New Zealand and beyond, we had those moments but we didn’t seize them.
“Our opportunity now is to seize the moment. Scotland are a good team, no doubt. Their record against us dictates that.
“But I believe that if we do our job when get into those moments, when we have those opportunities and we take advantage and execute, we will do well.”
With a home game against Italy and a trip to beleaguered Wales on the horizon, an overdue success against the ‘Auld Enemy’ would very much leave England in the mix for a first Six Nations title since 2020.
“We want to be a team that wins on a regular basis; we don’t want to be a team that fans are expecting disappointing results from,” said Itoje.
“England, the fans and perhaps the media demand that the team win.
“I don’t want to play for a low-expectation team, I don’t want to play for a team that no one thinks they can do anything, no one thinks they can achieve anything, and they have little potential.
“I think this team has great potential.”
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