SCOTLAND U20 Head Coach John Dalziel believes his side are well placed to to send the Auld Enemy packing in this weekend's Six Nations showdown.

His side face England this Friday, 5 February, at Broadwood Stadium (kick-off 8pm) in a precursor to Saturday's Calcutta Cup game at Murrayfield.

Speaking to the Border Telegraph, he said: “It's a huge challenge for Scotland U20’s, going up against England in the Six Nations in that first match. They were back-to-back world champions and only narrowly lost in the final last year to New Zealand.

“The pressure is big, but we’ll look in the first game to hit home and give a good account of ourselves. On the day, if we play how I know we can play, we will win.”

The Melrose boss had been involved with the national set up for the past five years, before stepping up to the top job last September.

He believes the support structures now exist to ensure that the national side has a steady stream of talent breaking through for the next decade.

“We’re in a better place with the U20s compared to a few years ago," he confirms.

"We have got the regional and district U20s. There is now a huge percentage of players playing in the BT Premiership, and some of our younger exiles have been hand-picked for academies down south, so they are getting exposure to professional coaching from year dot.”

Dalziel also paid tribute to his backroom staff, which this year includes ex All-Black Ben Atiga.

“You rely on the strength of your coaching team and I am really excited about the coaching team this year. We have got some really good people, Ben Atiga, the ex- All Black, is a professional manager with Edinburgh.

“We have got exile managers working down south as well, hosting camps that I’ll attend on weekends. So the groundwork is done by several people.

“My two assistant coaches, Ian Monaghan who is the Glasgow Academy coach and Ben Fisher in defence, who is also an Edinburgh Academy coach. These guys are working with 80/90 per cent of those players on a day to day basis as well, so that helps.

“You are talking about a lot of people with ex professional and international backgrounds. That makes a big difference.”

After England, his side will face Wales and Italy away, before returning to Broadwood to host France, prior to concluding their campaign on the road to Ireland.

The team finished third in last year’s Six Nations competition and maintained a 100 per cent record at home, defeating Wales (36-34), Italy (45-0) and Ireland (17-10), before achieving a highest-ever finish of eighth in the World Rugby under-20 Championship in June.

Gala's Ruairi Howarth and Gary Robertson, Melrose trio Tom Galbraith, George Taylor and Ally Miller and Hawick's Darcy Graham and Fraser Renwick have all been called up for recent U20 training camps and all will hope to feature at some stage in this year's tournament.