Scotland lock Alastair Kellock admits that it would be "unbelievable" to defeat England in the first match of the Six Nations.
Scotland have not won at Twickenham since 1983 and lost in their last match against Tonga, a result that saw then coach Andy Robinson quit his role.
Now under interim head coach Scott Johnson assisted by Dean Ryan, Kellock admits a win would place the squad amongst the legends of Scottish rugby.
"It is a huge game. The first game of the Six Nations is always massive, so why not have it at Twickenham?" he said.
"The last game we had for Scotland was a huge disappointment, for everyone concerned. But this is now an opportunity for us to put it to bed.
"If we win, it gets us off to a fantastic start in the competition. It's key to get a bit of momentum at the beginning.
"It would be unbelievable if we did it. I'd love it. I've been lucky enough to play England a few times - beaten them up here, drawn with them up here and pushed them close down there when Max Evans scored that great try when he kicked it over the top in 2011.
"We had a disappointing result in Auckland in the World Cup when we were fantastic for 70 minutes but they scored a breakaway at the end.
"They are all special games but to win one down there would put you in among the legends of Scottish rugby.
"Scott hasn't changed much. Rugby is rugby, after all. But he has got his own ideas and Dean Ryan has also come in with a few different things as well.
"It's about making improvements. They have done their analysis on the way we play and they have said that we can change things subtly to make us better."
Meanwhile, Scottish Rugby has announced that it has secured the biggest sponsorship deal in its history.
New kit partner, Macron, will come on board in the summer to become official kit supplier for all Scotland representative teams and the professional clubs, Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors.
Comments
melkdave says...
Scotland 1st up ,is always a very difficult match for anyone,England will not be taking it for granted hopefully,as they only just overcame Scotland last year.Always passionate and intense matches ae calcuta cup ones ,and the scots love nothing beter than beating the old enemy Hope that doesnt happen ,as im english ,but i do hope Scotland then go on to have a realy good championship.
Posted 16:21 27th January 2013
scot_rsa says...
pentwynfarm - yes NZ has a slightly smaller population than Scotland but the difference can be summed up in one word. Football. Stand next to any group of guys here and it's the same old round ball obsession that Waz4before mentions. Drilled into Scots from primary school as being the only worthwhile sport. Sad irony is that Scotland are worse at footie that rugby now. No kids playing and, yes, tiny levels of investment. Minority sport in a small country. A more impressive example of a nation who overcome that problem would be Australia.
Posted 20:39 25th January 2013
pentwynfarm says...
@atg77 If you're going to use the "we're only a tiny country with little investment" argument then explain Samoa's and Tonga's recent successes. And come to think of it New Zealand's. The best rugby team since rankings began and a population of only 4.5 million, lower than Scotland's.
Posted 13:47 25th January 2013
atg77 says...
@Waz4before. I think your comments are a little bit unfair, considering England has more than ten times the playing resources; and Scotland have not won down there for 30 years. It would be a massive acheivement for Scotland to go down there and win.
Posted 11:27 25th January 2013
LondonWasp says...
eng vs scot is always a close low scoring affair. From an English point of view, it is always scary to play against the Scots (especially at Murrayfield)
Posted 10:50 25th January 2013
Waz4before says...
... oh, and while he's regurgitating the same old tripe - can we expect comments about how "arrogant" england are for further self motivation in the next week or two ;-)
Posted 05:21 25th January 2013
Waz4before says...
These comments surely highlights part of Scotland's sporting problem (afflicting the round-ball game before the English killed-off the Home Championship to play friendlies against other sides instead) ... if just beating the english makes you a "legend" in Scotland that's pretty sad, we're hardly world-beaters ourselves .. but it seems Kellock thinks thats alright then, never mind beating the Kiwis, Boks, Wallabies, the other 6N's sides .. oh and sides like Tonga. Sigh, whilst I wouldn't right them off in 2 weeks I think they need to think bigger than this !!!
Posted 05:19 25th January 2013
atg77 says...
I really fancy Scotland's chances. Going down there with their strongest team on paper since 1999, you'd be a fool to write them off. Visser, Maitland and Hogg in the back three will pose alot of problems.
Posted 21:00 24th January 2013