Arizona Tribune - Itoje urges England to 'seize our moments' against Scotland

Calcutta Cup-holders Scotland are bidding for a fifth win in a row over arch-rivals England in the latest chapter of rugby union's oldest international fixture.

England, however, go into this weekend's match following a morale-boosting 26-25 second-round win over France that ended a run of seven straight defeats by top-tier opposition since they beat reigning champions Ireland in last year's Six Nations.

"We need to seize our moments," England captain Itoje told reporters. "In any game you have a finite amount of moments that are there for you to take...Our opportunity now is to seize the moment."

But the 30-year-old lock, who succeeded Saracens team-mate Jamie George as England captain at the start of the championship, said it would take more than emotional fury for England to improve a Calcutta Cup record of just one win in the last seven editions dating back to 2018.

"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.

"We want our team to be full of emotion. But we want that accuracy. We don't want blind emotion that clouds your judgement."

England started this Six Nations with a defeat by Ireland in Dublin but a win over Scotland, with a home game against Italy and a trip to struggling Wales to come, would leave them in contention for a first championship title since 2020.

"England, the fans and perhaps the media demand that the team win," said Itoje. "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."

Scotland received a pre-match boost when co-captain Finn Russell, long a thorn in England's side, was given the all-clear after suffering a concussion in a defeat by Ireland last time out.

"He's a talented player," said Itoje of fly-half Russell. "We want to make sure he has a bad game...You obviously want to put loads of pressure on him and force him into bad decisions."

Scotland's side also features Duhan van der Merwe, whose 44-minute hat-trick last year was central to a 30-21 win over England.

And the wing's superb solo try at Twickenham two years ago, when he beat five defenders, helped secure another Calcutta Cup triumph.

"Scotland are a good team, they have a number of other threats," said Itoje. "We need to make sure that we are ready to deal with all of that."

A.Taylor--AT