IT is a fierce rivalry previously played out in football stadiums, rugby grounds, boxing rings and in swimming pools, but a clash of the Auld Enemy arguably never before had such high-profile billing on a gymnastics stage.

The men's team competition, for which qualifying begins today, is shaping up to be one of the most exciting spectacles of the Games as Scotland and England go head to head for gold.

Lining up for Team Scotland are Daniel Keatings, Daniel Purvis, Frank Baines, Adam Cox and Liam Davie, while Team England have named Louis Smith, Max Whitlock, Sam Oldham, Kristian Thomas and Nile Wilson. So, evenly matched are their talents - with a plethora of Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth medals between them - victory or defeat will hinge on the narrowest of margins. This is a sport in which dreams can be extinguished by the tiniest wobble, a nervous stumble, the chance of a medal swallowed up by less than an inch of mat.

According to Cox, who at 27 years old is competing in his third Games, not even the gymnasts themselves could call a winner at this stage. "I would say it's pretty evenly matched," he said. "In terms of all-rounders we have three very strong guys and so do Team England.

"Neither of the teams are particularly strong on rings. We have three strong vaulters and so do they. We outmatch them on parallel bars with Dan Keatings and Frank, but they have a slightly stronger high bar with Sam and Kristian."

The Team Scotland women's side, meanwhile, comprises of Amy Regan, Emma White, Cara Kennedy, Carly Smith and Erin McLachlan. Giffnock's Regan will be aiming to make apparatus finals on her two strongest pieces: floor and vault. She finished fourth on floor in Delhi in 2010 and would love to make the podium this time around. "To win any colour of medal would be amazing. I wouldn't mind which one," she said.

Arriving at Glasgow 2014 marks the culmination of a tumultuous few months for Regan, who has had to battle the dual adversity of her mother Ann being diagnosed with ovarian cancer and her own Games preparations being derailed as she suffered a broken foot in training.

Both are now on the mend and the 19-year-old said she has emerged all the stronger. "What kept me going was that my mum told me she wanted to watch me compete at the Games," said Regan. "That gave me the extra push I needed."

White is arguably Scotland's other leading medal hope, a strong all-rounder who excels across all four pieces of apparatus. The Dunfermline-born Scottish champion competed at the 2006 Games in Melbourne, but her dreams ended in heartbreak in Delhi four years ago after a knee injury in training forced her to head home for surgery before competition began.

Leading England's campaign will be Becky Downie, who recently won European gold on the asymmetric bars and has come a long way from the shy 14-year-old who took team silver and bronze on beam at the Games in Melbourne.

Her team-mate Claudia Fragapane is a threat to Scotland on floor and vault - she was part of the British team which won silver in the European Championships earlier this year. Another name to watch is Australia's Lauren Mitchell, who took four golds and a silver in Delhi, and is said to have returned to top form following a recent operation.