Rugby Union: Oh Calcutta in five acts

1957: England 16 Scotland 3

Ron Jacobs won the eighth of 29 England caps at tight-head prop.

I remember little of the match except that it clinched us the Grand Slam. We had an outstanding side under Eric Evans - the scrum-half Dickie Jeeps and and centre Jeff Butterfield were as good as anybody who ever played for England in their positions. The locks John Currie and David Marques were the backbone of the pack and we had other great players such as Peter Robbins and Peter Jackson. We expected to win as Scotland weren't strong in those days - they didn't beat England between 1951 and 1964 - but there was always a passionate atmosphere whenever we played them. Their problem then, as now, was a shortage of players, although they had some good ones. Arthur Smith was a Lions wing and the loose-head prop Hughie McLeod was a tough opponent for me personally. We players had arranged a party on the Sunday morning for the selectors so we must have been confident.

1971: England 15 Scotland 16

Gordon Brown won the 10th of his 30 Scotland caps in the second row.

Twickenham had this daunting aura and Scotland had not won there since 1938. The build-up was fanatical, all about the pride of Scotland, and my brother Peter was our captain. It was my first visit to the ground and I had this non-stop physical battle with the England lock Nigel Horton, but the way I handled myself got me selected for the Lions tour of New Zealand. We led briefly, then England went ahead and we needed two scores in the last 10 minutes. Peter called us together and made a stunning appeal. He wasn't just talking to 14 other Scots, but to six Gala club-mates, seven fellow Ayrshiremen and his own brother. Chris Rea then got a try to make it 15-14 to England and Peter took the conversion from near the left touchline. As a boy, he dreamed of scoring the winner at Wembley and he was thinking: "Right city, wrong sport." When it went over, I ran to kiss him.

1983: England 12 Scotland 22

Steve Smith won the last of his 28 England caps at scrum-half.

It was a traumatic time for me personally. After captaining the side to a draw in Wales (the first time in 20 years we had not lost there), I was dropped from the squad and replaced by Nigel Melville. Four days before the Calcutta Cup match I was in a Manchester night-club drowning my sorrows when I got a call telling me that due to injuries I was back in the team. We were expected to win, even though Scotland had many good players, but I was ordered to pass every time I got the ball rather than run or kick. It was a tactical blunder and this loose approach played into Scotland's hands. The way to beat Scotland is to dominate them up front and keep the game tight. It was my last England cap but I can't complain - I had a great career. Calcutta Cup games are always heated occasions. Everybody hates the English, but there are degrees of hatred and the Scots seem to hate us more than anyone else.

1989: England 12 Scotland 12

Finlay Calder won the 19th of his 34 Scotland caps at wing- forward.

It would be safe to say it was a pretty turgid affair. I had just become captain and we were in a transition period with a newish team, but we had a reasonable amount of confidence having beaten Wales in our previous game. Many people regarded it as an honourable draw, but I remember getting back to the changing-room afterwards and thinking we'd got away with it. Twickenham is such a hard place to go to and our record there is dreadful. England always have a big pack, but my opposite number that day was Andy Robinson and I was quite relieved because he was three inches shorter than me. He'd had an outstanding game against Australia a few months earlier but found it difficult this time. A lot of Scots came down to support us before professionalism but not so many will come from now on - it's too expensive.

1993: England 26 Scotland 12

Tony Underwood won the third of 21 England caps on the wing.

Stuart Barnes was playing his first international in five years and I was back after missing two games. Our three tries all came in the first half. The second, by my brother Rory, was superb. Barnes broke from our 22 and passed to Jeremy Guscott who beat three players before releasing Rory. Five minutes later we won the ball inside the Scottish 22 and it went down our line. I looped outside Rory, who put me over in the left corner for my second England try (my first, against South Africa, also came from a pass from Rory). Pictures of my mother dancing and waving her arms when I scored grabbed the country's imagination but she's more restrained now as she knows the cameras are on her. We haven't lost to Scotland since 1990, but they are always hard to break down and defend their line well. In fact my try in 1993 was England's last against Scotland. Scottish fans are pretty vocal - they get up for games with England more than any other.