Six Nations 2002 - Scotland

If Scotland are to cause a major upset on the opening day of the tournament and beat England, the trick for Ian McGheechan and his coaches is to have all 15 players at their very best just as they were two years ago.

This time though there will not be the motivation of denying the Auld Enemy a Grand Slam and on the evidence of their displays in the autumn, don?t put your mortgage on it. Scotland ended Irish Grand Slam hopes but that was more down to the opposition performing below par. Then, an indisciplined performance was punished by Argentina and the Scots never seriously troubled the All Blacks a week later.

However, all the groundwork being established by McGheechan in creating a conveyor belt of talent through from schoolboy level is beginning to bring dividends. They have more depth in the second row and the back row has become very competitive with Stuart Grimes and Jason White coming in while Scott Murray has improved his all-round game. Budge Poutney will lead the Scots with typical fire and determination and scrum half Duncan Hodge will almost certainly make the most of his recall.

The enigmatic Gregor Townsend, overlooked by the Lions, has been enjoying a resurgence with Castres and a centre partnership with the powerful James McLaren could be classic combination of rapier and broadsword. But perhaps most importantly for the Scots is the emergence of young Gordon Ross, a fly half who can orchestrate his backs and kick penalties and conversions. How many times in the last few seasons have Scotland suffered from atrocious dead-ball kicking? Forget the title but expect a couple of good shows from these improving Scots.