England get their 2022 Six Nations campaign underway on Saturday when they take on Scotland at Murrayfield.
After a disappointing tournament in 2020, the Red Rose will be desperate to do better this time around, but they face a tough opener north of the border and former England international Alex Corbisiero believes Eddie Jones’ men will have their work cut out when they meet the auld enemy this weekend.
“I'm shocked that Scotland aren't favourites,” the American-born former loosehead prop told Betfred.
“They've held onto the Calcutta Cup for the last four years now, the momentum seems to be with them, they're at home. England have a lot of chop and change in their team and some unknown question marks of how certain players who haven't played for England for a little while are going to play, a few boys in that sort of genre.”
“When you look at that Scotland team, it's pretty much nailed down. They're experienced, they're missing almost no-one. I would favour them but I just have this feeling with Eddie Jones and England, and looking at the team he has picked, they're going to kick a lot, they're going to play clever, and they might try and grind out a win.
“I think whoever wins will be within five points, I think the spread is bang on because it's such a hard game to call. England have a shot if they stay in the game, but I wouldn't want to be betting too much of my money on this game.
“England v Scotland to me is an absolute toss up. If I wasn’t English, I would probably be favouring the Scots with everything going on right now but the English side of me probably thinks that it stays within 2-3 points. I think England have the bench to maybe get a win, so I’m going to go with England by more than the 1 or 2 points that they are favoured at the moment. But I think that game is really tight and I wouldn’t want to be betting my house.”
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