Fraser Brown: Scotland’s focus is on a championship challenge - but big call in back-row may hinge on lineout thoughts

Scotland vs England is always a box-office fixture north of the border. In times where there has been little hope of Scotland mounting a Six Nations title challenge, the Calcutta Cup has provided a focal point for fans and players hoping to upset the odds. Saturday’s win over England could not have been further from this scenario.

This is a Scotland team filled with top-class internationals, the meanest defence in world rugby and a blistering and devastating attack. This side’s focus is on a championship challenge.

They were deserved winners. Despite being starved of possession and field position for much of the match, there was a calmness in the Scottish ranks, if not the stands, and that’s testament to the work Steve Tandy has done on defence and the confidence he has instilled in every player when Scotland don’t have the ball.

Despite the jubilation at the final whistle, there was also frustration at the overall performance – a good indication of the culture in the squad. Scotland would have liked more field position and to have conceded fewer penalties. The lineout functioned superbly in terms of ball-winning but cleaner ball would have provided more opportunities to unleash the attacking weapons in the Scottish arsenal.

Despite this, Scotland were clinical.

Their first real chance came from the quick lineout which led to Ben White’s debut try. Since I started working with Gregor Townsend in 2012, he has always had moves like this in his playbook. The idea is to try to capitalise on a momentary loss of concentration in the opposition ranks, where hesitation and confusion at not being in the right positions to defend the set play can create mismatches. Saturday was a demonstration of great coaching to identify the