England centre Manu Tuilagi is expecting a tense tussle with Scotland, with a place in the World Cup quarter-finals at stake.
The 20-year-old hopes to win the nod to feature in the midfield alongside Mike Tindall, with England 1/7 with bookmaker to win in Auckland and move on to the knockout stages.
“Scotland are very direct and I think their loss against Argentina will make them even more hard to beat because they need this win – but we need this win as well,” Tuilagi commented.
“This is not a Six Nations game – it is a World Cup and it will be a different animal.”
Scotland are 5/1 to shock England, with Andy Robinson’s side needing a bonus-point victory over their old rivals to progress.
Centre Nick De Luca is relishing the opportunity to send England home early, but says that progress for Scotland is the main ambition, adding: “If we do it right, England would go out, which would be an added bonus, but it’s not the incentive itself.”
