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England v Scotland
Joy and pain: Scotland players celebrate while a shattered Steve Borthwick is on his knees following England’s defeat last season. The skipper will use the bitter memories of that day to spur him on

I’ll make gloating Scots suffer, vows Borthwick

Chris Jones
17 Mar 2009


England captain Steve Borthwick is gunning for revenge against Scotland on Saturday because he is still angry at them for gloating following his side's 15-9 defeat at Murrayfield last season.

Borthwick has ensured the Calcutta Cup clash at Twickenham will be even more explosive than normal after he revealed the depth of resentment that still remains.

He said: “That result last year hurt a lot. Post game, it was very difficult because they made no disguise of the fact they had beaten England and I am desperate that we get a win.

“There are certain things I won't forget, without going into exact detail, that happened after the game and as a proud Englishman that hurt. They were very pleased with their victory and I am going to ensure I fulfil my role to try and ensure we get an England win.

“I would hope that after our win over France on Sunday I'd like to think we handled that victory in a gracious manner. How other teams react is up to them.”

England went to Murrayfield last season on a high after a 24-13 victory away to France but they were bought crashing down to earth by a side who revelled in their first Six Nations win of 2008.

Borthwick is determined his side don't get caught out again and said: “Having been involved in that game last season, I am very focused on getting England the win.

“Scotland won fair and square and we were poor. It hurt me and hurt every Englishman but we have to put it right.

“The loss was a low point in my career and that wasn't a good day for English rugby. I am not disrespecting the opposition but the focus is on how we play. We need to ensure that kind of performance doesn't happen again.”

Tom Rees, just two games into his comeback from knee ligament damage, is set to replace Joe Worsley against Scotland.

Rees had been sidelined for nine weeks but has made such a strong return for London Wasps that he was today drafted into the squad by Martin Johnson and put on standby to replace club-mate Worsley, who has six stitches in a cut in his hand suffered against France.

Worsley has made 32 tackles in England's last two Six Nations games to highlight his importance but John Wells, the England forwards coach, is confident Rees is ready to resume at No7 if needed at Twickenham this weekend.

“Tom had two full games for Wasps and we would not push him into action if we weren't confident he was ready,” said Wells.

“His fitness levels and experience are in place and while we know how important Joe has been to our defence, Tom also has the same ability to tackle and also get over the ball to try and win turnovers. If Joe doesn't recover we know Tom is ready and fighting fit.”

England also have an injury doubt over fly-half Toby Flood, whose shoulder problem will be given until later in the week to recover. Team manager Johnson has brought in Olly Barkley as cover for the Scotland match and he would be vying with Danny Cipriani for a place on the replacements' bench.

Smith confirmed that the England medical team are monitoring Cipriani whose right ankle, severely damaged last May, caused some concerns when he played for Wasps against Gloucester at the weekend.

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Steve Borthwick has been naive and stupid with his comments about the Scots. He has probably fired them up even more for saturday`s match.

- Big Mac, Bournemouth, 19/03/2009 16:58
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