One day England will arrive in Scotland for a Calcutta Cup match having talked up the host nation’s beautiful scenery, wondrously fresh air and fine distilleries. Instead, under Eddie Jones, old habits still die hard and the head coach has again stirred the pre‑match broth by calling the Scots a “niggly” team who “goad” opponents into losing their cool.

Given England’s fate in Paris, when their pledge to brutalise France spectacularly backfired, it is tempting to ask now much Jones has learned about British history and the perennial desire of England’s neighbours to stick the sweet chariot somewhere dark and enclosed. There could, of course, be a simpler explanation: lobbing a few jibes at Scotland is one way of diverting attention away from Sunday’s dire first-half display.

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Whatever his primary motivation, Jones has decided to double down on his publicly-expressed distaste after this fixture two years ago, when he was abused on a train to Manchester the following day and unseemly scenes took place beforehand in the players’ tunnel. “They’re a niggly side, aren’t they?” suggested the head coach, reflecting on England’s 25-13 loss in 2018. “[There was] the scene two years ago when they tried to goad a couple of players. And they were successful. Historically they’ve done that through the ages. That’s the way they stay in the game and they’re good at it.”

As he also publicly observed 12 months ago, it is not just a matter of what takes place out on the field. “Every game against Scotland has extra on it, I think they have a healthy dislike of the English and we would certainly like to reciprocate the welcome we got up there,” he said last year before the extraordinary 38-38 draw at Twickenham. “[At Twickenham] you don’t get people telling you where to go, you don’t get people spitting on you, you don’t get people grabbing you round the head and telling you what you should do.”

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In the absence of Ryan Wilson, who could be relied upon to rile Owen Farrell, it may be that England will be more inconvenienced by the marauding breakdown presence of Hamish Watson and Jamie Ritchie, who posed Ireland problems in Dublin. England’s hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie feels that any calculated Scottish wind‑ups would be largely “pointless” and that “there isn’t a place for it” in the game but Jones has not entirely forgotten a visit he made to Murrayfield as Australia’s coach during Matt Williams’s spell in charge of Scotland.

“We went there on the captain’s run on Friday and the field was 70 metres wide. Then we go there on Saturday and it’s 60 metres wide. Gregor wants to play with width so we’d better check the markings on Saturday!

“We have to try to cope with any distractions that are thrown at us ... but I think it’s courageous how Gregor wants to play. He’s tried to create a game for Scotland which keeps them at the top level because they’ve obviously got limited resources. I think he’s done a good job. He would have been disappointed with the World Cup but we’ve all forgotten about that now.”

The home team, meanwhile, may be encouraged that Jones, with a six‑day turnaround to negotiate, has not added a specialist No 8 to his squad and is standing by his long-term plan for Tom Curry to occupy that crucial position. “Sometimes you invest in players that you know are going to be better than the players you’ve got at the moment,” he said. “Tom Curry is an example. We feel like he can be a great No 8. There are areas of his game that have to improve but we’re prepared to invest in him. We see the game going in that direction.”

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Listening to the contrasting views of those outside his inner circle is, to Jones’s mind, a complete waste of time. “When I first started coaching a very famous coach said to me that if you listen to the fans you end up in the grandstand with them. That’s always been my philosophy.”

He also remains adamant that a sub-par display in Paris is not necessarily a reason to panic, arguing it was “out of character” and would not be replicated in Scotland. “Some days we are good, some days we are not so good. We are humans. I think I know the reasons and we will make sure we don’t prepare like that again.

“We deliberately had a light preparation because I am worried about the players’ workload and I want them to finish the tournament full of running. I could have done more for that first game so it was my fault. That is why we should have an English coach.”

This last quip was a tart reference to an opinion expressed in the aftermath of the French game by the former England scrum-half Kyran Bracken; what absolutely no one would dispute is that England could currently use a few more No 9s with Bracken’s erstwhile talent. Fail to improve sharply on their Parisian performance and, whatever Jones says in the build-up, another Murrayfield disappointment will beckon.