A Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield is not a place for shrinking violets. England's young side will have to bloom quickly if the reign of interim head coach Stuart Lancaster is to get off to a positive start. On paper, the gulf in international experience between the sides is vast. Scotland's starting XV boasts 499 caps between them; England's only 233.
Scotland's new skipper Ross Ford is winning his 54th cap, England's captain Chris Robshaw his second. Owen Farrell and Brad Barritt will become England's first uncapped centre pairing since 2002 - and only the second since 1969, while Scotland's midfield have won a combined total of 89 caps.
“Stuart Lancaster has put a system in place where players can go out and express themselves”England debutant Owen Farrell
Add into the mix that the English have not won at Murrayfield since 2004 and you can see why they are claiming to be the underdogs, a position to which they are unaccustomed.
The noises emanating from the England camp, though, are that the influx of fresh faces has created a buzz absent from previous regimes. It is clear that Lancaster wants his England side to shed their reputation of playing plodding rugby and add a sprinkle of stardust to their play, with forwards coach Graham Rowntree saying: "We have to go out there and play… we don't want our guys to be harnessed by a fear of losing."
Off the field, Lancaster seems to have done everything right so far, blending a hardline approach to any wrongdoing with a dedicated charm offensive designed to get the players onside. In one such move that endeared him to the squad he e-mailed the parents of each player asking them for recollections of their son and how they felt about him representing England. The responses were then printed, framed and presented to every player.
This will be Scotland's first match since they were beaten by England in October at the World Cup. They managed to score a try in just one of their four matches in New Zealand and exited at the group stage for the first time in the competition's history.
Coach Andy Robinson has since freshened up his squad and has been buoyed by the performances of Edinburgh in the Heineken Cup. They have become only the second Scottish side to reach the knockout stages of the tournament and matched the achievement of English clubs, for whom only Saracens managed to make the last eight.
This has given Scottish rugby a boost, but unless the national side can emulate Edinburgh's ability to score tries this could be another Six Nations that sees them caught in an unseemly tussle to avoid the wooden spoon.
One thing that has not helped their cause this week is the PR gaffe by the Scottish Rugby Union's online retail partner that led to T-shirts from their win over England in 2008 being re-released bearing the logo: 'Calcutta Cup. Scotland. Winners'. The timing was unfortunate as it came just days after Scotland head coach Andy Robinson stood by comments he made after the World Cup in which he accused England of 'arrogance'.
Head-to-head
England won their last encounter with Scotland at the RWC group stages last October.
Scotland have not beaten England since 2008, and have won the Calcutta Cup just twice in their last 11 Six Nations encounters.
This is their 130th meeting. England have won 69 times, Scotland 42 and there have been 18 draws.
TEAM LINE-UPS
Scotland : 15-Rory Lamont, 14-Lee Jones, 13-Nick De Luca, 12-Sean Lamont, 11-Max Evans, 10-Dan Parks, 9-Chris Cusiter; 1-Allan Jacobsen, 2-Ross Ford (captain), 3-Euan Murray, 4-Richie Gray, 5-Jim Hamilton, 6-Alasdair Strokosch, 7-Ross Rennie, 8-David Denton.
Replacements:16-Scott Lawson, 17-Geoff Cross, 18-Alastair Kellock, 19-John Barclay, 20-Mike Blair, 21-Greig Laidlaw, 22-Graeme Morrison.
England : 15-Ben Foden, 14-Chris Ashton, 13-Brad Barritt, 12-Owen Farrell, 11-David Strettle, 10-Charlie Hodgson, 9-Ben Youngs; 1-Alex Corbisiero, 2-Dylan Hartley, 3-Dan Cole, 4-Mouritz Botha, 5-Tom Palmer, 6-Tom Croft, 7-Chris Robshaw (captain) 8-Phil Dowson.
Replacements: 16-Rob Webber, 17-Matt Stevens, 18-Geoff Parling, 19-Ben Morgan, 20-Lee Dickson, 21-Jordan Turner-Hall, 22-Mike Brown.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee : George Clancy (Ire)
Touch judges : Romain Poite (Fra) & Leighton Hodges (Wal)
TV : Nigel Whitehouse (Wal)
