Scotland rugby head coach Gregor Townsend hoping to keep up unbeaten run in London

Townsend’s team won 11-6 at Twickenham last time round in 2021 and drew 38-38 the visit before, in 2019, so Townsend say he’s looking forward to heading back south of the border again on Saturday, February 4.

“England are always going to be tough at Twickenham,” said the Galashiels-born 49-year-old following his side’s 52-29 win against Argentina at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium on Saturday.

“Although we won there the last time, we are aware there were no supporters there that day. It’s a real challenging place to play.

“We’ve gone there the last two occasions and come away with a draw and a win, so we’ll go there with confidence.

“We’ll cross our fingers that we have everybody to select from but it’s a great game to start the Six Nations with, as we have done the last couple of years. It’s a good one for us to get our focus back onto improving our performance.”

Townsend is pleased that Scotland have three home games – against Ireland, Wales and Italy – and just two away, against France and England, next time round.

“It’s good for the country,” he said. “To play three home games is obviously better than playing three away games because you’ve got the supporters here and, from a coaching perspective, there’s less travel so it’s an easier week to manage.

“That home support gives you more energy and it’s about harnessing that energy into scoring more points than the opposition.”

Townsend says it is hard to predict how the Six Nations will go, explaining: “The Six Nations is its own stand-alone tournament, so you’ve got the crowds and the form of teams for those big games and nothing is consistent.

“There will be teams that play really well one week and not as well the next week. World rugby is very competitive just now.

“Argentina have knocked off New Zealand and England and they didn’t win over the last two weekends, and there are other teams in similar situations.

“Italy have been very good. They finished the Six Nations beating Wales and since then they’ve gone up against Australia and looked really dangerous.”

If Scotland are able to get the better of English head coach Eddie Jones’s side next year, not only will it be their third match udefeated at Twickenham but it’ll also be their third win on the spin against the Auld Enemy as they also beat them 20-17 at Murrayfield in February this year to retain the Calcutta Cup.