Rory Darge on Finn Russell, accusation levelled at Scotland's pack

Rory Darge says it is “massive” to have fellow co-captain Finn Russell available to aid Scotland’s pursuit of Calcutta Cup history.

Gregor Townsend’s side are bidding to continue their recent domination against rivals England by recording an unprecedented fifth consecutive win in the fixture.

Influential fly-half Russell has been passed fit to start Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations showdown at the Allianz Stadium after recovering from a nasty head knock suffered in his country’s round-two loss to Ireland.

Glasgow flanker Darge, who is preparing for the first Twickenham outing of his career, said: “Finn plays a lot of his best rugby in a Scotland shirt.

“He’s played lots and lots of games for us now, so it will be big having him back.

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

1

Draws

0

Wins

4

Average Points scored

17

21

First try wins

40%

Home team wins

60%

“It’s massive isn’t it? He’s obviously world-class, great to play with and really important to us as a team, so delighted that he’s fit.

“It’s a big boost. He has so much experience playing for Scotland and his talent speaks for itself.”

Scotland attracted criticism for a perceived lack of physicality in a comprehensive 32-18 loss at home to the defending champions last time out.

Darge dismissed concerns his country could face similar struggles against the power of the England pack and insisted the doubts do not serve as additional motivation.

“It’s not something that we use as fuel, certainly I don’t,” he said.

“You should be proud of what you do as a forward pack anyway; it’s always an important factor of the game, the physicality of the two packs.

Team Form

Last 5 Games

47 - 24

16 - 15

26 - 25

27 - 22

59 - 14

35 - 29

16 - 15

18 - 32

31 - 19

27 - 13

4

Wins

3

3

Streak

1

24

Tries Scored

19

65

Points Difference

17

3/5

First Try

4/5

3/5

First Points

2/5

3/5

Race To 10 Points

4/5

“It’s not something we’ll shy away from but it’s not something we’ll necessarily use (as motivation). I don’t think there’s any reason for added fuel.

“There’s loads there already. Scotland-England, it’s always a big one.”

This weekend’s match will be pivotal for the championship title aspirations of both sides.

While Scotland are seeking to return to winning ways after beating Italy in round one, Steve Borthwick’s hosts hope to build on a statement 26-25 victory over France following an opening weekend defeat in Dublin.

“Historically, it’s always been a game that as a fan you watch with more interest than others and now that you’re actually playing in it sometimes you have to take any moment you can to reflect on the fact that you’re actually involved in one now,” said 24-year-old Darge.

“The absolute main driver is it’s a Six Nations game and if we win we get four or five points.

“There’s pressure in every Six Nations game to deliver and we didn’t deliver last week and that’s another driver for wanting to put out our best performance possible this week.

“But every week you play for Scotland you should want to deliver and put out the best performance you possibly can.”

England’s surprise success against Les Bleus was their first win over a leading nation since ultimately denying Ireland back-to-back Grand Slams during last year’s tournament.

Scotland, whose last loss in south-west London came in 2017, beat Borthwick’s men 30-21 at Murrayfield 12 months ago and have suffered just one defeat in the last seven meetings.

“England are obviously a great team,” said Darge. “I’ve seen them evolve; they’ve been a really good team for the last 12 months.

“They’ve been on the wrong side of scorelines up until last week but they’ve always been playing against top, top opposition and it’s been really close games.

“I’m under no illusion about what’s going to come, they’re a top-quality side and it’s going to take a really good performance from us to go and beat them.”