Saracens hooker Jamie George says England will be focused on getting a victory against Italy this Sunday in a bid to relaunch their Guinness Six Nations campaign, writes Ziad Chaudry.

Scotland eventually came on top over the 'Auld Enemy' at BT Murrayfield with a tensely contested 20-17 success. It is the third successive time that The Red Rose have lost on opening weekend.

Leading 17-10 with 15 minutes left on the clock, it looked very much like Eddie Jones's side were going to regain the Calcutta Cup, however a penalty try followed by a penalty from Finn Russell ensured the famous old domestic trophy remained on Scottish soil.

Along with George, fellow Saracens' team-mates Maro Itoje, Nick Isiekwe, Max Malins and Elliot Daly also played in England's defeat while regular captain Owen Farrell was already ruled out of the entire Six Nations campaign due to an ankle injury.

"There were lots of other opportunities for us to win that game and to stretch the game out and take it beyond a seven-point game," said George.

The front row came on and conceded a scrum penalty also which we don’t like.

"It’s not how we wanted to start because off the back of a good Autumn we had some good momentum. I didn’t think it was a fair reflection and there were some disappointed guys in that changing room."

Italy, who lost to early table pace-setters France 37-10 in Paris last Sunday, will also be looking to record their first victory in the 2022 Guinness Six Nations when England come to Rome's 70,000-capacity Olympic Stadium this weekend.

"The momentum can pick up pretty quickly," added George .

"We’ve got Italy next weekend and we’re fully aware that we’ll need five points out of that game and that will be our main focus."

The opening round of matches also saw defending Wales lose 29-7 to Ireland at Dublin's Aviva Stadium.