Calcutta Cup classics: our writers pick their most memorable showdowns

02/19/2025 10:30 AM

As England prepare to host Scotland on Saturday, relive some of the most compelling clashes between the old foes

That bonkers 38-38 draw in 2019 clearly has to be up there. But the world's oldest international fixture takes on a different complexion in even-numbered years. Edinburgh's cold, malty air, the walk down past Haymarket (before the trams), the distant hills, the lone piper on the Murrayfield roof … the pre-match mood always recalls the glorious tartan-tinted newspaper intro from years back. "Can we do it? Aye, I think we can." Even as a kid, watching the great Andy Irvine from afar, and then subsequently as a uni student in Edinburgh, the most memorable matches always involved England being sent homeward to think again. So I'm choosing the 2000 game, my Calcutta Cup debut as – pinch me – the Guardian's rugby correspondent. The weather was utterly atrocious and a strongly fancied England side, hoping for a first grand slam since 1995, were flushed away by a slithering splashdown from an ecstatic Duncan Hodge, who scored all his side's points. The next day's exultant headline in the Daily Record – "Battlers 19 Bottlers 13!" – has also stood the test of time. Robert Kitson