Time for England to end Calcutta Cup blues and show France was no fluke | Robert Kitson

Yesterday at 02:00 PM

Red Rose have lost four in row against Scots, but if they can back up Les Bleus win there will be talk of top-two finish

In recent times the Calcutta Cup has morphed into the "Scottish play" the English would rather not mention by name. One Red Rose win in seven attempts and four consecutive victories for Gregor Townsend's side has certainly been an uncomfortable sequence for those who, for decades, regarded death and taxes as only marginally more inevitable than Scotland losing down south.

So much for the supposed dead weight of history. "What's done cannot be undone," murmured Lady Macbeth but she wasn't privy to the skill and daring of Finn Russell or the killer finishing of Duhan van der Merwe. The last time England lost three or more consecutive home games in this fixture was in the early 1900s before Twickenham became their spiritual home.