Six Nations 2012: Chris Robshaw ignores past in hope of making history against Scotland at Murrayfield Probably never in the history of English team sports has one narrative been ripped to bits so determinedly and replaced by another. In this one Farrell, Brad Barritt and Phil Dowson step over the bodies of World Cup discards. The team's internal software has been rewritten to change England duty from being a self-branding and stag tour opportunity to an honour that links today's starting XV to the 1,322 men who have earned England caps since 1871. Will it work? Will the pipes commemorate the death of a nice idea at 7pm on Saturday? The party line is that this England side are fire-hardened by big Heineken Cup tests and tough weekly action around the shires. It asks us to set aside a mantra of international management: that winning teams are put together over time, not thrown together from the shock and embarrassment of a bad World Cup campaign. Finding the answer to this question is the point of today's Six Nations opener. Andy Robinson, Scotland's English coach, was tempted towards provocation but then drew back. Of Dowson, the No8, Robinson said: "He's got a lot to prove. You think about all the emotion that goes with that [making his Six Nations debut at Murrayfield]. An earlier Robinson foray was to diagnose "arrogance" in the England set-up. A safe bet is that he was referring to Delon Armitage and Chris Ashton, who retains his place but is under pressure to drop his swallow dive. But Calcutta Cup matches are not tickling contests, to borrow a boxing line from Ricky Hatton. They are not won by letters from parents and old coaches or by talk of values, though all that can help shape the team environment and strengthen esprit de corps. No: Scotland-England games call on the dog inside, which is why Robinson tried to scare Lancaster's young team with talk of the "chaos" they will face. Did Robbo say that? Andy Farrell smiled. I don't believe him. Alongside, Robshaw was relaxed in his new high profile role. He said: "We've spoken a lot this week and last about a leadership group. It's about those seven or eight players maybe putting a consoling arm around someone or maybe giving them a kick up the bum and saying - come on, we need to get on with this. The young guys want to go out there and prove a point. They've been doing it for their clubs for so long now and they want to go out there and show the nation what they can do. The "white wall of jargon" (a player complaint from New Zealand) is replaced by a blue wall of Scottish antipathy. We've got to make sure in the first 20 minutes we're ready for it. We're not going to take a backward step," Robshaw said. The romance here is obvious. Harlequins flanker misses out on World Cup selection - despite being "one of the fittest, one of the strongest" in pre-tournament training, according to the leaked reports of player verdicts - and emerges six months later as captain. "Being at Harlequins you get to see Twickenham quite a lot and you always want to be over there playing," he said. To come up here in your first Six Nations is quite special. Tindall said, a month or so before the doomed expedition set off: "I believe you have to play like a great captain to be a great captain." He meant that leadership is best expressed by example: the Martin Johnson way. These England players are trying to expel from their heads the great sweep of history, which is no use when a Scottish lock has his knee on your head. "I try not to think about the bigger picture," Robshaw said. As for the captaincy, he might have been on a training course at Asda, but with a risk of violence thrown in: "I'm here to help them and hopefully they can get through this in the best possible way. Tonight I'll have a quiet think about my role and what I need to do and tomorrow it's about going out there and leading from the front. The last times these two sides met England won 16-12 before crashing out against France in a World Cup quarter-final. Again and again the conversation returns to knowledge, and its absence, and whether high ideals will be buried by a Scottish onslaught. Experience? When it comes to confidence, form, going into big games you'd rather have confidence in your side," Andy Farrell insisted. But what about the hostility up here? Is it hostile? I think it's exciting more than anything," Farrell said. It's one of the theatres of world rugby, isn't it. It's a dream of everybody to get their first cap. To get your first cap in a Calcutta Cup here at Edinburgh is extra special. I don't think it's daunting. So today we have a new coaching team auditioning for their own jobs full-time and a side who are being asked to display humility and overwhelming machismo at the same time. It could hardly be better. Farrell said: "Good players make good decisions at the crucial times. That's why they're good players. That's why they play for their countries. There's got to be control. There's got to be a lot of thought, a lot of aggression and we've got to win the collisions. You've got to hit the first scrum as hard as you can, the first breakdown. Clever teams are teams that can handle all types of environment. Or as Robshaw said more simply: "We'll know a lot more about ourselves at 7 o'clock tomorrow [Saturday] night."