Both sides want to win for different reasons, but given what they have gone through all these years, the sentiments among neutral fans lean heavily toward the Scots as they take on England at Twickenham Saturday afternoon.
It’s a venue where Scotland last beat England way back in 1983, and that’s a record you don’t want to cling to you for much longer.
As for the Triple Crown – wins against the other three home unions – Scotland’s last success was in 1990, and having beaten Ireland in the opening round and then Wales two weekends ago, who is to say the Scots can’t do it – although England has been all conquering in the north these last two seasons.
In their last 10 6 Nations meetings, England won eight and drew one, but go back 30 years, and you’ll see how bad it has been for Scotland.
The record at home for the boys in blue and white is better, but far from outstanding.
Since the 6 Nations began in 2000, Scotland has beaten England at Murrayfield only thrice, and drew one game, in 2010. That drawn game was the last time they managed to stop England from winning.
That was the Scotland of old, but since being coached by Kiwi Vern Cotter from 2014, Scotland has definitely shown a lot of improvements, both at the last World Cup in 2015 and in this competition itself.
Cotter’s place will be taken over by former Scotland international, Gregor Townsend, from June.
England, though, has its own plans and is expected to make it tough again for Scotland.
Win this one, and they equal the All Blacks’ tier one world record of 18 consecutive Test wins.
For coach Eddie Jones, a win would be his 17th in a row, with that other win scored over Uruguay at World Cup 2015 before Jones became coach.
Jones has made no secret that he wants his England to eventually take over New Zealand’s spot at the top of the world rankings, and equalling their record would be quite an achievement too.
If they are to upset England, the Scots must strengthen their scrum, which was penalised several times against Ireland and France, but improved significantly against Wales.
Their front-row is relatively young and this is what the more experienced England trio can exploit.
For Wales, this hasn’t been a good 6 Nations, and with two tough matches left, it doesn’t get any easier.
The first step towards redemption will be early Saturday, local time, when last year’s runner-up takes on Ireland, one of two teams left who can spoil everything England has to celebrate for.
Last year, the Welsh managed three wins, one draw and a loss to finish second behind unbeaten England, but so far, have lost two out of three this competition.
In their defeats to England and then Scotland, the obvious defensive flaws were out wide on both wings, where three match-deciding tries were scored.
The Irish lost their opening game away to Scotland and played their first two matches without flyhalf Johnny Sexton, but the pivot showed in the match against France, which they won 19-9, just how crucial his presence is to his team.
Following their defeat to Scotland, the Irish cannot now win either the Grand Slam or the Triple Crown, but they can stop England from achieving both and the overall title, if Scotland fails to do this.
There was little to separate Ireland and Wales in the last 10 6 Nations encounters, with Ireland winning five and one match drawn.
In the Super Rugby matches earlier Friday, the Chiefs had the better of the Hurricanes in Hamilton 23-18, a penalty by Damian McKenzie at the hooter denying the losers a bonus point.
Conditions were atrocious, with rain all the way to the finish, but the hosts played the better rugby, especially in denying the Hurricanes solid, front-foot possession and playing in the right parts of the field.
In Canberra, the Brumbies put a stop to their poor opening rounds by beating the Force 25-17, with two late tries giving them a respectable margin.