Scotland vs England Preview & Tips - England to retain the Calcutta Cup with win over Scotland

England hammered lowly Wales in a 48-7 win that saw the English rarely need to hit a high gear. 

England have won four of their last 10 against Scotland, with the Scottish winning five times and one game ending as a draw. 

Scotland knew they faced a tricky test against Italy in game one, but they would have been confident that they could outlast their opponents as the travelling side looked to finally embark on a genuine push for the Six Nations title. 

However, they were outdone by an Italian side that better dealt with the conditions. As the rain became progressively worse, Italy managed to battle to a 15-7 lead at half-time. The conditions underfoot were awful as the rain continued to fall, with this allowing Italy to force Scotland into their own half as they asked them to play from there. Scotland failed to ever really click into gear, and this saw them slump to an 18-15 loss as neither their power game in the forwards nor their usually slick play in the backs could truly come to the fore. 

This week, Scotland will need little help getting up for their clash against England. A meeting with their bitter rivals constitutes a superb chance to get their opening win of 2026. They will also be desperate to wrestle back the Calcutta Cup, which they surrendered last year after three consecutive wins over England. 

While Scotland will look to go at England at the set-piece whilst using Finn Russell to control the game with his kicking, I expect to see the home side struggle. England have become adept at implementing a plan against an opponent and sticking to it. Meanwhile, Scotland have struggled of late, losing three of their last four, and I back against them this week. 

England went into their clash with Wales as the massive favourites, but they did not let this get on top of them as they eased to a statement 48-7 win over their opponents. 

While there are far better sides than Wales to come, meetings between the sides have been spicy affairs in which Wales have often matched or bettered the English. However, Steve Borthwick's side pummelled Wales into submission with big carries, intelligent kicking and slick handling. The way they played at Twickenham last week bodes well heading into their trip to Murrayfield this week. 

Henry Arundell celebrated his return to the England fold with a first-half hat-trick as he profited from sloppy Welsh defending and his side stretching the Welsh defence, allowing him space on the flanks. I am backing Arundell to continue his fine scoring run this week as he dots over once again. 

While I back England to extend their impressive winning run, I do not see this match being anything close to as comfortable as it was against Wales. Instead, I am backing England to win by 1-12 points as they make it consecutive wins in the Six Nations this year.