This year just happens to be the 1,900th anniversary of the building of Hadrian’s Wall and it feels almost as long since English rugby fans headed north with so much apprehension. While the Calcutta Cup dates back “only” to 1879, Scotland have rarely been as fancied to retain the venerable trophy or inflict successive Six Nations defeats on their neighbours for the first time in 38 years.
The weather is slightly ominous, too. While Met Office forecasts have improved since AD122, when the emperor Hadrian sought to protect the Roman empire by constructing a 73-mile barrier between the Tyne and the Solway Firth, some things never change. Let’s just say few would choose to be erecting much, or catching rugby balls, in the heavy rain and gusty winds reportedly heading Murrayfield’s way.
