The 34-year-old Clermont scrum-half skippered the side in 39 out of his 76 international appearances, more times than any other player, and is Scotland's second-highest point scorer with 714.

Scottish rugby fans were left truly stunned after it was revealed that the SRU chief executive more than doubled his salary from £455,000 to £933,000. The news comes prior to the Six Nations kick-off.

Finn Russell was dropped from Scotland's Six Nations opener after refusing to stop drinking at the team's hotel bar and then skipping training the following morning.

New Scotland captain Stuart Hogg is to seek out national icon Gavin Hastings for last-minute advice on how to lead the team from full-back in the Six Nations opener against Ireland.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has backed captain Stuart Hogg to bounce back from his horror miss against Ireland and lead the team with confidence against England next week.

Finn Russell will be absent again when Scotland play England in the 2020 Guinness Six Nations Championship at Murrayfield.

Every morning at Pennyhill Park, Eddie Jones walks past a table in the hotel lobby offering free fruit and a collection of daily newspapers. On Tuesday they did not make for pleasant reading.

EXCLUSIVE BY CHRIS FOY: England are talking about Scottish dirty tricks again, ahead of their trip to Murrayfield, but John Barclay has dismissed what he considers to be familiar 'whinging'.

The Edinburgh flanker missed last week's Six Nations opener with Ireland in Dublin due to a thigh strain and his recall to Gregor Townsend's team is the only change from that defeat.

Watson sat out the 24-17 defeat to France in Paris with a calf injury and it was hoped he would return for the trip to Murrayfield, but forwards coach Matt Proudfoot confirmed he would not be fit.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has warned his players not to let their emotions get the better of them in Saturday's Calcutta Cup showdown.

Thursday at Murrayfield. Greig Laidlaw looks at an empty arena. It is tempting to chronicle his career in a series of kicks, but the deserted grass surrounded by stands holds a comforting familiarity.

CHRIS FOY IN EDINBURGH - England's  task is to turn down the volume - in the Murrayfield stands and far beyond. There is suddenly a lot of noise swirling around the national team.

NIK SIMON IN EDINBURGH - Sam Underhill admits the pressure is on as England walk into the eye of a storm in Saturday's clash with Scotland.

Dylan Hartley runs the rule on England's trip to Edinburgh, as Eddie Jones' side prepares to face old foe Scotland in a Calcutta Cup clash. 

Eddie Jones has made five changes to his England team for Saturday's Calcutta Cup clash against Scotland with Willi Heinz coming in for Ben Youngs at scrum-half.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY AMITAI WINEHOUSE: Henry Slade is not worried. Sure, he might be a distance from England's Six Nations campaign right now but he's convinced they'll bounce back.

Scotland host England in the second round of the 2020 Six Nations at BT Murrayfield in Edinburgh. Follow all the action here with Sportsmail's Ieuan Ivett as the sides battle for the Calcutta Cup.

England beat Scotland to lift the Calcutta Cup before an angry Eddie Jones laid into the Scottish yob who threw a beer bottle at his right-hand man.

OLIVER HOLT AT MURRAYFIELD - The trees outside Murrayfield swayed in the gale and empty plastic coffee cups scattered. Storm Ciara was brewing, but Owen Farrell remained unfazed.

All those training sessions when Steve Borthwick brings a bucket filled with slippery, soapy water paid off on Saturday night. England overcame foul weather to beat Scotland.

Gregor Townsend has absolved Stuart Hogg from blame despite the Scotland skipper making his second costly mistake in as many Guinness Six Nations games.

NIK SIMON AT MURRAYFIELD: England could not dodge the storm but they at least averted the crisis on Saturday afternoon - thanks to a late try from Ellis Genge.

Officials are investigating ugly scenes at Murrayfield on Saturday where Neil Craig, a member of England's backroom staff, was struck on the head by a plastic beer bottle.

It was fitting that on a wild day in Edinburgh, England won back the Calcutta Cup thanks to a decisive intervention of Ellis Genge. He typified the spirit of defiance which propelled his side to victory.

Townsend has warned exile Russell that he will have to make the same 'sacrifices' as every other Scotland player - or be banished from his squad for the duration of the Six Nations.

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: I try not to be overly partisan in my columns because I love good rugby and admire top-quality play from all teams, but I hope Scotland record a thumping win over Italy.

ROB ROBERTSON IN ROME: Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend believes the pressure has been lifted after his side 'zeroed' Italy in an emphatic Six Nations win in the Italian capital.

The PFA Player of the Year ended last season with no opponent completing a dribble past him in a staggering 64 matches. Liverpool centre back has lifted the lid on what has helped him.

De Jong completed a big-money £65million move to the Spanish giants from Ajax in January and he will be officially unveiled as a Barcelona player on Friday.

United States take on Netherlands for ultimate glory in the Women's World Cup final in France today. Sportsmail will provide you live updates as it happens from the Lyon Olympic Stadium.

After Liverpool wished him happy birthday on Twitter, the club's supporters inevitably took to social media to sing his praises after quickly becoming a fan favourite on Merseyside.

During the latest episode of BT Sport's 'What I Wore' series, Van Persie was asked to talk about the iconic moments from his career as he worked his way through the shirts he donned during his career.

Holland boss Ronald Koeman has backed wonderkid Matthijs de Ligt to cement himself firmly in the starting XI of Italian giants Juventus.

The Dutch, managed by Bert Van Marwijk in 2010, were defeated in the final by Spain following an extra-time winner by midfield maestro Andres Iniesta in South Africa.

October 13, 1976. Best's career was on the wane. He had turned 30 that summer and come back from his first stint in the US with Los Angeles Aztecs.

De Toekomst training complex in Amsterdam was like a scene from Armageddon as Ajax fans let their players know what the fixture means to them while there were similar scenes in Rotterdam.

When Ronald Koeman was shown the door at Goodison Park back in October 2017, it was difficult to imagine a route back to the top for the Dutchman, but now he is a Barcelona candidate.

Dutch footballer Memphis Depay has hit out at racist fans after yet another foul incident caused a football game between FC Den Bosch and Excelsior to be stopped on Sunday.

Holland and Liverpool star Gini Wijnaldum says he would walk from the pitch were he to be targeted with racial abuse, just as Ahmad Mendes Moreira was recently in a Dutch second division tie.

Holland midfielder Gini Wijnaldum backed up his powerful words on racism in football this week, by leading by example for his national team and making a visual statement.

Former Newcastle and Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew takes the reigns at the Dutch outfit with the club struggling in 17th in the league having been thumped 6-1 by Ajax at the weekend.

Ireland striker Parrott is a loan target for a number of clubs in England but Pardew has now entered the hunt and believes the 17 year-old can help fire second-bottom Den Haag to safety.

Ronald Koeman's Barcelona exit clause has been delayed until 2021 after the postponement of the European Championships this summer.

Barcelona had high hopes for Frenkie de Jong after winning the race to sign him last summer for £65million, but the 22-year-old has so far failed to live up to expectation at the Camp Nou.

Inter Milan forward Romelu Lukaku has sent a message of support to former manager Ronald Koeman after he underwent a heart procedure in Amsterdam. 

The superstar musician's burgeoning domestic empire started in 2012, when he bought a modern farmhouse in the town of Framlingham.

The cheeky phrase used by Jamie and Rebekah Vardy,  'chat s***, get banged', has been used in a new song by Rapper Stormzy with Ed Sheeran. 

It marks the latest addition to Sheeran's housing empire in Framlingham, Suffolk, which has ballooned in size after the pop star, 28, snapped up four of the surrounding properties.

The singer, 28, arrived to the Eagle N Tun on New Canal Street, Birmingham, to film his latest collaboration with grime artists Jaykae and Aitch.