Just in case, and who can blame them, England have had a long-range weather forecast pinned up in their team room all week. After the icy blast of northern exposure they received in Edinburgh 12 months ago, the last thing they want to be accused of this time is ignoring the obvious for a second successive year, and if anyone is to surprise Clive Woodward's team today it will assuredly not be the likes of Michael Fish.

Instead it is Scotland's turn to brace themselves for a spot of southern discomfort, for Twickenham is no place to go these days when England have a score to settle. No wonder Woodward merely shrugged yesterday when asked if he was worried about the foot-and-mouth crisis disrupting his side's ambitions from here on; his only concern is to ensure the lessons of that howling Murrayfield Sunday are not forgotten today when his players run out into a concrete deep-freeze masquerading as a sold-out stadium.

Certainly, if revenge really is a dish best served cold, all the cliched ingredients are in place. No one can fail to have been impressed by England's strike-power so far in this Six Nations season, and even Ian McGeechan confesses that Scotland's second-half display against Wales, which contained their best rugby since they won the title two years ago, would have to be the base level for any visiting attempt to secure a first Twickenham triumph since 1983.

The message from the England camp, moreover, has barely altered all week, ominously reminding every Scot what they probably already know. "We're a considerably better team now. There have been four or five changes in personnel and I think all of them have strengthened the team," insisted Woodward again yesterday.

Martin Johnson will not be watching on television as he did a year ago and, for good measure, that ultimate Scottish patriot Gary Armstrong chose this week to proclaim Jonny Wilkinson the best outhalf he has ever played with. As they do every year, England would appear to have won the Calcutta Cup before they even emerge from their dressing-room.

This, of course, is precisely why international rugby's oldest fixture is still going strong after 130 years, why those able to escape the snowdrifts and the gloom in the farming community will still head for London confident of a tingling day's sport. A glance down the Scottish team-sheet should also fortify those of a tartan persuasion, for in at least four positions in the pack a Scot might well get the nod in any notional head-to-head.

Tom Smith and Scott Murray are Lions certainties, and Budge Pountney has a useful record of late against Neil Back when it comes to snaffling ball on the floor. McGeechan, as we know, is also used to making the best of his resources and it is more than possible Scotland will secure enough possession to make England stop and think, if nothing else.

"They know what they've got to do to stop this England team and that's what makes it a great contest," admits Woodward. "We've got to play within the rules of the game, but we've got to stop them slowing our ball down."

Most of the signs, therefore, would point towards the closest of England's games so far, with the home side locating the defensive holes they crave only in the final quarter of a hard-fought game.

Wilkinson, who needs 21 points to beat his Newcastle director Rob Andrew's English record of 396 points in just 26 Tests, compared with Andrew's 71, will find himself required to readjust the radar from last week's Cup final, although Woodward feels the young maestro is now more relaxed playing for England than for the Falcons.

The wider rugby world will also be able to monitor the mature talents of another 21-year-old, Scotland's number eight Simon Taylor. "He comes with a big reputation but he's up against Hill, Back and Dallaglio so we'll find out how good he is tomorrow," said Woodward, likely to make exactly that point to his vastly experienced back row trio before kick-off.

It will be fascinating, too, to see whether Jason Robinson gets another second-half run. Robinson's mother, Dorothy, hails from just outside Glasgow, but England will be concerned today less with geography than with rewriting modern history.