Players no longer shuffle back from injury, tentative and restrained, with Anthony Watson echoing others before him in the England camp in claiming that he feels ‘better than ever,’ as he prepares to return to the squad for the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham on Saturday.

In what is a finely-poised contest, the scales are beginning to tilt England’s way if only in terms of the respective medical updates, with Scotland losing Saracens centre, Duncan Taylor, on Tuesday just as Watson was making his bullish projections about what he hopes to bring to the English cause following a month-long absence with a hamstring problem sustained at the pre-tournament camp in Portugal.

As with the Vunipola brothers, Mako and Billy, Watson has taken advantage of the enforced lay-off to enhance his conditioning as well as hone his game. The Bath wing, one of the team’s ‘speedsters’ in the lexicon of Eddie Jones, is pledging to be even quicker than he was following technical adjustments made in recent weeks as he worked his way back to fitness.

“I have tried to take benefits from my time away and being in camp has allowed me to work on stuff that I wouldn’t be able do to so much, speed and speed mechanics stuff with the strength and conditioning staff,” said Watson.