Scotland talisman Finn Russell is unfazed by the prospect of being targeted by England’s new blitz defence in Saturday’s Calcutta Cup showdown at Murrayfield.
The Red Rose have adopted a more aggressive approach for this year’s Guinness Six Nations after highly-regarded defence coach Felix Jones joined Steve Borthwick’s backroom team in the wake of helping South Africa win the World Cup.
England are expected to try to swarm stand-off Russell and his midfield colleagues in an effort to neutralise Scotland, but the 31-year-old has no issue with the possibility of being singled out.
“It’s probably similar to a lot of teams in that the 10s are the key players in attack,” said co-captain Russell. “I’m not sure what England are going to do – if they are going to fire out the line and try to take me out or shut me down from the outside.
“That is something we will have to figure out in the game. We will have to be able to adapt, with myself and Sione (Tuipulotu) and Huw (Jones) being on the same page and having Blair (Kinghorn) out wide as another option.
“Although the 10 controls a lot of the attack, it is not just down to me to create things. We will be looking to other boys to get away from them.”
Scotland were tamed the last time they came up against a Jones-inspired blitz defence when they lost 18-3 to South Africa at the World Cup in September, but Russell insists they have learned from that encounter.
“We have looked back and talked about that game, and obviously looked at England’s first two games of this campaign,” said Russell. “I think our learnings from the World Cup were not to go into our shells if we do feel the pressure.
“There were chances in that game against South Africa that we probably never saw on the pitch. Under pressure we probably went into our shell a little bit.
“Tomorrow we just need to have belief in ourselves and trust the work we have put in over the last six months to a year.
“At times we will be under pressure and it will be tough, but we can fall back to what we have done building up to this game.
“We can have belief and confidence in ourselves and hopefully we can take the chances that will be out there.”
After Russell lost his first three Calcutta Cup matches, including a 61-21 defeat at Twickenham in 2017, the Scots have won each of the last three meetings and have lost only one of the last six.
“With us and England, we have been progressing and over the last few years they have potentially not been as good as they can be,” said Russell. “But the World Cup showed how good they can be, getting to the semi-finals.
“Obviously they have won their first two games of this campaign so they are getting back to where they should be. They are one of the best teams in the world.
“We can’t look back at the last few games and think it has turned in our favour. Every time we play England, it is always a huge challenge and we have got to be at our best to be able to beat them.”
Edwards to defend UFC Welterweight title in rematch against second-ranked Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 in Manchester
Jamaican-born British Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards now has a date and an opponent for his next title defense.
The 32-year-old will try to fend off number two-ranked Belal Muhammad in the main event at UFC 304 set for July 27 at the Co-op Live in Manchester, England.
Edwards will enter the fight in the midst of a 12-fight unbeaten streak while Muhammad is unbeaten in his last 10 contests.
The pair fought previously at UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs Muhammad on March 13, 2021 in Las Vegas. That bout ended in a no contest after an accidental eye-poke by Edwards in the second of five rounds rendered Muhammad unable to continue.
After than unfortunate fight, Edwards went on to defeat fan favorite Nate Diaz by unanimous decision in the main event at UFC 263 in Glendale, Arizona on June 12, 2021.
His next fight proved to be his crowning moment as he secured a spectacular head-kick knockout of Kamaru Usman to claim the UFC Welterweight title at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City on August 20, 2022.
Heading into that fight, Usman was on a 20-fight win streak and was the number one pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. The Nigerian also had a win over Edwards back in 2015.
Edwards then went on to defeat Usman again, this time via unanimous decision, in their trilogy fight at UFC 286 in London on March 18, 2023 before defending his belt for the second time with another unanimous decision win over Colby Covington at UFC 296 on December 16 last year.
Muhammad has also been on a tear since that eye-poke.The 35-year-old recorded unanimous decision victories over legends Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson at UFC 263 and UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Daukas, respectively, to close out 2021.
He then secured a third consecutive unanimous decision win, this time beating Vicente Luque in the main event of UFC Fight Night: Luque vs Muhammad 2 on April 16, 2022.
At UFC 280 on October 22, 2022 in Abu Dhabi, Muhammad won performance of the night for his knockout win over Sean Brady and in his last fight, he defeated former title challenger Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision at UFC 288 on May 6, 2023 in New Jersey.
Another one: ‘Bunny’ Shaw cops 2023/24 Barclays WSL Player of the Season honour
The accolades of Jamaica and Manchester City striker Khadija ‘Bunny’ Shaw continue to mount, as she was voted the 2023/24 Barclays Women’s Super League (WSL) Player of the Season, on Friday.
This announcement came on the heels of Thursday’s Football Writers’ Association (FWA) awards gala, where Shaw was officially presented with the FWA Women Footballer of the Year trophy, alongside fellow Manchester City star Phil Foden.
To say these individual acclaims are very much deserving would be an understatement given her exploits this season, as she has been a key figure in City’s push for the WSL title.
The 27-year-old, whose season was cut short due to a broken leg, has registered 21 goals in just 18 appearances, while also providing three assists. She’s on course for another prestigious honour of finishing as the league’s top scorer, having incredibly averaged a goal every 66 minutes this season.
And it is just rewards for another phenomenal campaign in which she once again broke new ground in Gareth Taylor’s side.
Shaw is the first player to score three WSL hat-tricks in a calendar year, last year, and between November 2023 and January 2024, the forward again registered three trebles in just four matches.
Finding the net in both WSL Manchester derbies, the Jamaican’s clinical finish at the Etihad Stadium in March also saw her become City’s record goalscorer, as she swept past Georgia Stanway in the process.
Another crucial strike from Shaw came in City’s 1-0 win over Chelsea in February, as they secured the honour of being the first away side to take three points off the reigning champions at Kingsmeadow, in over three years.
In securing the Player of the Season title, the prolific Jamaican fought off the sizeable challenge of City teammate Khiara Keating, who won the Golden Glove, as well as Chelsea duo Lauren James and Niamh Charles. Arsenal’s Lotte Wubben-Moy, Tottenham Hotspurs youngster Grace Clinton, Leicester’s Jutta Rantala, and Brighton’s forward Elisabeth Terland, were also in the mix.
Kane to miss Bundesliga finale after seeking treatment on back injury
Harry Kane will miss Bayern Munich's final game of the Bundesliga season after leaving Germany to undergo treatment on a back problem.
Kane has scored 36 league goals in his debut campaign in Bavaria, though he will finish yet another season without silverware, with Bayer Leverkusen having clinched their first top-flight title.
He will end 2023-24 five goals adrift of Robert Lewandowski's single-season goal record of 41, set in 2019-20, after sustaining a back injury.
Ahead of Saturday's trip to Hoffenheim, departing Bayern boss Thomas Tuchel revealed Kane had been struggling before the second leg of their Champions League semi-final loss to Real Madrid.
"Harry is being treated by his personal doctor and he is not here anymore," Tuchel said.
"He won't be with us. In Madrid it was already touch and go."
Kane missed Bayern's 2-0 win over Wolfsburg in their penultimate game of 2023-24 last week, with Lovro Zvonarek and Leon Goretzka on target in his absence.
The news will cause concern for Gareth Southgate, who is set to name his preliminary England squad for Euro 2024 on Tuesday.
The Three Lions' final squad for the tournament – which is being held in Kane's new home of Germany – will be revealed after they face Iceland in a friendly on June 7.
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