Little love lost in England-Scotland relations, except for golden curls

Reginald Birkett, who died in 1898 by leaping from a window, has largely been forgotten. On March 27, 1871, he was the first England rugby player to score a try. Unfortunately, it didn’t count. In that first international against Scotland, only goals – that is, converted tries – mattered and England’s kick fell short. Scotland won their opening encounter in Edinburgh 1-0.

England lead the series 77-47 since, but Scotland have won four of the last five and their one defeat was by a point. As the Six Nations heads to Murrayfield on St Valentine’s Day there will be little love between the sides in the Calcutta Cup (Saturday, ITV1, 4.40pm). They play after Italy host Ireland (ITV1, 2.10pm).

Saturday will be quite a day for testing Anglo-Scottish friendship. In the morning, their cricketers meet at the men’s T20 World Cup in Kolkata (Sky Sports Cricket, 9.30am). England have played Scotland twice in global tournaments, winning by 119 runs in Christchurch at the 50-over World Cup in 2015, while at the T20 in Barbados in 2024 Scotland put on 90 without loss in 10 overs before the match was lost to rain. For both, it will be their third group match of this tournament and perhaps a must-win. Scotland, who played West Indies yesterday, meet Italy tomorrow (5.30am), while England play Nepal today (9.30am) and West Indies on Wednesday (1.30pm, all on Sky Sports Cricket). Nepal may look like an easy opener but beware: at the last T20 World Cup they came within two runs of beating South Africa.

There is one sport this week where everyone should be cheering on Scots: curling. Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds are on the verge of the semi-finals after a sixth straight win yesterday and play their final group matches today (TNT Sports 2 and 4, 1.30pm and 6pm). Semi-finals are tomorrow with the gold-medal match on Tuesday (TNT Sports 2 and BBC Two, 4.45pm).

In other slidey-sports, Britain have a strong chance in the skeleton after Matt Weston and Marcus Wyatt won all seven events in the World Cup series. Their competition starts on Thursday with the final two runs on Friday (TNT Sports 2 and BBC Two, 6 and 8pm). Before then, perhaps Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson will have won Britain’s first ice dance medal since Torvill and Dean. (Wednesday, TNT Sports 2 and BBC Two, 6.15pm).

The New England Patriots take on the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. The Patriots won 28-24 when they met on this stage in 2015. For some, the main attraction will be Bad Bunny’s half-time show and Serena Williams’ rumoured tennis comeback during an ad break (Tonight, Sky Sports Main and 5, 11.30pm).

Photograph by Andrew Milligan/PA Wire