32 years of one-sided capital punishment for Scots

The Calcutta Cup at Twickenham is still the most one-sided biennial grudge match in sport.

Scotland’s latest defeat in London means it will be 34 years at the earliest since they last won there, under Jim Aitken’s captaincy in 1983.

That miserable record hasn’t put a stop to the Scots’ incessant girn, as they say in the local patois, about a lack of respect from the dreaded Sassenachs. Ironically, the epic Grand Slam triumph over Will Carling’s England at Murrayfield 15 years ago remains a flowing source of angst.

One anecdote about English superiority can always be relied upon to keep the Scottish chip clamped to the shoulder.

It revolves around a pre-match parting of the wives and girlfriends from both sides.

“’Oh well, may be the best team win,” one Scottish lady says to her English counterparts as they take their seats for kick-off.

“Don’t worry,” came the cocksure Anglo-Saxon reply. “We will….”