Calcutta Cup: All to play for as Six Nations rugby brings welcome boost for beleaguered hospitality sector

Glasses have been polished, tables laid and pillows plumped across Edinburgh in preparation for what is expected to be one of the biggest weekends of the past two years for the beleaguered hospitality industry – and for Scotland’s national rugby team.

Undulating masses of supporters making their way through the streets of the capital’s West End on their way to and from the Murrayfield home stadium is an almost-forgotten spectacle.

But all that will change today as the 2022 Six Nations kicks off, with fans welcomed back to the championship in full force for the first time since the outbreak of Covid-19.

Tickets for the match are sold out, with a capacity crowd of 67,000 due in the stands for Scotland’s opening match against England this afternoon.

Last year's tournament was played out in empty stadiums, with more away wins overall as the concept of home advantage became redundant without supporters.

Now there are high hopes for both the team, who have been tipped to do well, and for local businesses.

Scotland achieved notable victories over England at Twickenham and France in Paris in 2021, but they lost at home against both Wales and Ireland.

It will be the home side’s first Calcutta Cup game with fans present since February 2020.

Scotland scrum-half Ali Price thinks the return of fans will galvanise the team this weekend.

“The crowd at BT Murrayfield are incredible,” he said.

“Their energy is something you can’t compare.

“They are definitely the 16th man for us.

“In terms of those losses last year, we will never know whether it might have been different with a crowd.

“But what we do know is that if we are playing well and we can bring the crowd into the game, it’ll help us massively because we can feed off that.

“That