Stuart Hogg says he no longer fears playing against England

Stuart Hogg admitted facing England was a “scary” prospect earlier in his career but the Scotland captain now goes into Calcutta Cup clashes with no fear.

Hogg made his Scotland debut 10 years ago this month while the team were in the midst of a 10-match run without victory over their biggest rivals.

The situation has changed with Scotland only losing once in four meetings and ending a 38-year wait for victory at Twickenham 12 months ago.

Hogg said: “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t sometimes worried about playing England, especially in the early years.

“For me being a rugby pig growing up, some of the names you used to play against for England, it was quite a scary task.

“Not now. I truly believe in the ability of myself and the ability of the squad that we can go out there and win, and it has shown over the last four years or so.

“We view England as the same as every other team. We respect them highly, individually and collectively, they are one of the best sides in world rugby. But we know we can compete with them.

“That’s the exciting thing about our squad. We get excited about this fixture, we get excited about the challenge, and it’s a good one to be involved in.”

The full-back feels a shift in mindset has helped “massively”.

“For us the big focus we have earlier on in the week is analysing our opposition and seeing where their strengths and opportunities lie,” he said.

“But towards the end of the week it’s very much concentrating on ourselves and making sure we get our things right. Because if we worry too much about the opposition, then sometimes we will come unstuck because we don’t know what we are doing.”

The Exeter player also feels personnel improvements have been crucial in reshaping the dynamics of the