After a turbulent tenure of two halves, England's post-Eddie Jones era begins in earnest on Saturday when Steve Borthwick takes charge of his first game against Scotland in their Six Nations opener at Twickenham.
Scotland arrive at Rugby HQ full of confidence given their recent record against their bitter rivals, but could find themselves up against somewhat of an unknown quantity.
Match preview
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The decision to ditch Eddie Jones and replace him with his former assistant heading into a World Cup year was one that raised many eyebrows, but also one which was born out of a poor year of results by England's standards.
The Australian - a three-time Six Nations winner including one Grand Slam during his time in charge of England - has long been a polarising figure, and a record of just five wins from 12 Tests in 2022 meant that results could no longer mask the questions regarding his coaching style.
Even so, Steve Borthwick has big shoes to fill, taking over from the head coach with the highest win percentage in England's history, and one who won the Grand Slam in his very first Six Nations seven years ago.
The odds of Borthwick matching that latter feat are made longer by the presence of the world's top-two sides, Ireland and France, in this year's tournament, as well as a Wales team back under the guidance of serial Six Nations winner Warren Gatland.
Borthwick has insisted that his side cannot afford to look any further than Scotland this weekend, though, describing Gregor Townsend's current crop as the nation's best for generations.
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History suggests that there could have been tougher tests first up for the former England captain and his new coaching team of Kevin Sinfield, Richard Cockerill and Nick Evans, although the recent history of this fixture tilts firmly in the favour of Saturday's visitors.
England have won just one of their last five Calcutta Cup clashes against their old enemy, including back-to-back defeats in their last two.
That is already the first time that Scotland have won twice in succession against England in the tournament, and they could inflict another piece of unwanted history this weekend with England in danger of losing back-to-back home games in the Six Nations for the first time ever.
Townsend's men have certainly shown that they are capable of repeating what they did last year and beating England in their opening game, and they will travel to London full of belief following an encouraging 2022.
Like England, Scotland only won five of their 12 Tests last year, but that record is looked on in a far more favourable light, thanks largely to a narrow one-point defeat at the hands of Australia and a game against New Zealand which saw Scotland seriously threaten their first-ever victory over the All Blacks.
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Scotland also swept aside an Argentina side that toppled England at Twickenham, raising hopes that they could finally challenge in the upper reaches of the Six Nations.
Townsend's men have finished fourth in each of the last three years of the tournament, but boasted a winning record in two of those before their three defeats last year.
Consistency has been the key word for them in the build-up to the tournament as they look to string together a sustained run of the form that has seen them be capable of beating any team in the world on their day.
Should Scotland overcome England again this weekend then it would be a third-straight opening-weekend win and the fifth in the last seven years - a remarkable improvement for a team that had won one of their previous 17 Six Nations curtain-raisers.
Granted, Scotland have only ever won one opener away from home in the Six Nations era, but England endured a historically bad end to Jones's tenure at Twickenham with just one win in five.
Team News
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Having missed last season's tournament, Owen Farrell - England's record points-scorer in both the Six Nations (500) and against Scotland (102) - will captain his country from inside centre this weekend.
The Saracens back has played every minute of England's last seven Tests and remains a key member of the team under Borthwick, and he will play outside fly-half Marcus Smith, who was the leading points-scorer in the Six Nations last year.
There is a debut for Ollie Hassell-Collins on the left wing, while Max Malins is on the opposite flank and Freddie Steward completes the back three, but there is no place in the 23 for Manu Tuilagi.
With Courtney Lawes injured, Ollie Chessum joins Maro Itoje in the second row, but Jamie George is deemed fit to play at hooker following a concussion scare.
There could be a debut off the bench for Jack Walker, while experienced campaigners Ben Youngs, Dan Cole, Mako Vunipola and Anthony Watson are also amongst the replacements.
For Scotland, Huw Jones returns to the international scene at outside centre, alongside Glasgow Warriors teammate Sione Tuipulotu in midfield.
The injured Darcy Graham is replaced by Kyle Steyn, while there is also no place in the squad for Ali Price - Ben White starts at scrum-half instead.
Zander Ferguson and Hamish Watson are among the other names to miss out for Scotland, but star men Finn Russell and Stuart Hogg - the latter of whom already boasts the most metres gained in Six Nations history - start at 10 and 15 respectively.
England starting lineup:
15 Freddie Steward, 14 Max Malins, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Owen Farrell (captain), 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Jack van Poortvliet; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Jamie George, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Ollie Chessum, 6 Lewis Ludlam, 7 Ben Curry, 8 Alex Dombrandt
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Ollie Lawrence, 23 Anthony Watson
Scotland starting lineup:
15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe), 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White; 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 George Turner, 3 WP Nel, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 6 Jamie Ritchie (captain), 7 Luke Crosbie, 8 Matt Fagerson
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 George Horne, 22 Blair Kinghorn, 23 Chris Harris
Head To Head
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As previously mentioned, Scotland have claimed the Calcutta Cup in four of the last five meetings between the two sides, most recently with a 20-17 victory at Murrayfield in last year's Six Nations opener.
Townsend's side have won one and drawn one at Twickenham since their record 61-21 hammering in 2017, the draw seeing them put a record 38 points past England at Rugby HQ having lost their previous nine games at the venue before that.
Indeed, the recent head-to-head record is a far cry from the longer history of this fixture, with Scotland's tally of three wins and one draw from their last five meetings being the same as from the previous 29 Calcutta Cup showdowns before that.
A win this weekend would see Scotland record back-to-back Twickenham wins having only won twice at the stadium in the previous 83 years before that, while it would also be a third successive win over England - something they have only managed twice in a century.
We say: England 24-16 Scotland
Scotland's recent hoodoo over England makes this match all the more intriguing, but we are still backing the hosts to come out on top.
The Twickenham crowd will be right behind the hosts with Borthwick now at the helm instead of Jones and, while Scotland have all the tools to inflict more misery on their old enemies, we fancy England to hold off their challenge and give the new man in charge a Calcutta Cup triumph in his first game.
Barney Corkhill
