England No 8 Tom Willis says he’s “unbelievably excited” to face Scotland as he prepares for his Calcutta Cup debut.
The 26-year-old Saracens back-row will be winning just his fourth cap at Twickenham on Saturday, having grown up watching games at ground with older brother Jack, the Toulouse back-row, and their father.
Now Willis is hoping for more joy at Twickenham after featuring in England’s 26-25 win over France last time out that revived their Six Nations title hopes following a first-round loss to reigning champions Ireland in Dublin.
“I’m unbelievably excited,” Tom Willis told pre-match press conference on Friday. “Obviously the last few weeks, I’ve had a taste of playing in the shirt and it’s been unbelievable, I’ve loved every minute.
“The Calcutta Cup is a massive game that I grew up watching and to be part of one is going to be massive.”
He added: “Going to Twickenham with my dad and brother, we’d try and get to Six Nations games when we could and I have really fond memories of that.
“To play my first game at the Allianz Stadium (Twickenham) was unbelievable.”
Scotland are bidding for a fifth straight Calcutta Cup success, with England’s only win in the last seven editions of rugby union’s oldest international fixture a 13-6 Murrayfield success during their 2020 Six Nations title triumph under former coach Eddie Jones.
England have not beaten Scotland at Twickenham since 2017.
The Scots were criticised for a lack of physicality during a decisive 32-18 defeat by Ireland at Murrayfield last time out.
“Most games come down to physicality, especially around the contact area, around the set-piece, around the collision,” said England scrum coach Tom Harrison.
“I expect Scotland to be fired up in that area and I think you’ll see a different Scotland when they play against England.”
Harrison, asked about England’s poor recent record in the fixture, replied: “Everyone says teams who play against England ‘they find a bit extra’, but actually there’s a nastiness to us. We want to win the Calcutta Cup back here. We haven’t done so and we want to do that.”
Willis added: “Naturally you need an element of nastiness in you, from that competitive side of things, to push each other on. I think that lends itself to the best performance possible.”
