England braced for stormy Calcutta Cup clash as Sam Underhill urges team-mates to ‘embrace the pressure’ – The Sun

ENGLAND are ready for Calcutta Cup chaos in Scotland today as star flanker Sam Underhill declared: “Embrace the pressure.”

Murrayfield is set to be battered by 60mph winds as the worst storm for seven years is predicted to play havoc with Eddie Jones’ slim Six Nations hopes.

Owen Farrell & Co have to beat the Scots for the first time in two years to save their tournament after a disastrous defeat in France last Sunday.

And England can expect another stormy reception against the Auld Enemy in Edinburgh, where Jones received a torrent of abuse two years ago.

Underhill, 23, said: “The pressure is on.

“It is something you can ignore and try to play down or it’s something you can embrace — and as players we’ve got to embrace it.

“The fact that it just happens to be a Calcutta Cup is even better for us because there’s more pressure. Ultimately pressure is something you need to perform at your best.

“You need to put yourself under pressure and for other people to put you under pressure. It’s much better to embrace it than pretend it’s not there.

“I’ve got a Scottish grandmother, a Scottish brother-in-law, one of my other sister’s boyfriend is Scottish. So I just turn my phone off before the game.”

England chucked away a 31-7 half-time lead in the 38-38 draw at Twickenham last year and lost 25-13 at Murrayfield in 2018.

With clouds on and off the pitch as Storm Ciara bares down on the Scottish capital, tournament chiefs are monitoring conditions amid fears for supporters’ safety.

But Jones’ No 2 John Mitchell said: “I think we’re ready for anything.

“We’ve looked at all situations that could occur and weather is certainly one of those. I’m not sure who it will favour — it’s important to be able to adapt in that chaos.”

Home captain Stuart Hogg said: “It’s classic Scottish weather, we’re used to it now.”

Source: Read Full Article