EDDIE Jones may be a vastly experienced coach who appears to take everything in his stride, but Vern Cotter is sure the wily Australian will not be prepared for the unique intensity of the RBS Six Nations Championship.

Jones, who will take charge of the England team for the first time in tomorrow’s Calcutta Cup match at Murrayfield, led Japan against Scotland at last year’s Rugby World Cup. But Cotter, who has yet to win a Six Nations match after coaching Scotland to five defeats last year, thinks that even the World Cup is not as difficult an event for a coach to deal with as the annual championship.

“I think it will surprise him,” the Scotland coach said yesterday when asked about his opposite number. “Definitely from my perspective it was an eye-opener. It’s a very tough, passionate competition – and experience does help. It does.

“We won’t know until Saturday after the game. But it won’t be something he’s experienced before – and we certainly want to make Murrayfield something he hasn’t experienced.

“I think the intensity of it was above anything I had experienced. I think the Six Nations, if I’m comparing the two, is even harder than the World Cup – because you get such limited time in preparing the team.

“I did go to Six Nations games when I was a coach in France. I had players playing in the games and I watched them closely as a coach. But certainly, when you’re involved, it’s a powerful event.”

While Cotter inherited a coaching team when he arrived as Scotland coach in the summer of 2014, he now has his own men in place. Nathan Hines came on board for the World Cup training camp, Jason O’Halloran is preparing for his first international since moving from New Zealand, and Richie Gray, the breakdown specialist who worked with South Africa at the World Cup, is also out to be involved in a Test match for the first time. Those new arrivals may take a little time to bed in, but Cotter believes the squad is now settled should help minimise any teething troubles.

Whether that is also the case with tomorrow’s opposition remains to be seen. Steve Borthwick, the former England lock, has come in as one of Jones’ assistants, and both he and the head coach worked at Saracens. Cotter expects to see some aspects of that club’s play in the way England approach games, but he is also aware that Jones is likely to try to produce the odd move out of left field.

“We’re still working on some main things within the team, trying to develop our skill sets, our decision making and how we control games,” the Scotland coach added. “There was an improvement during the World Cup and we now want to kick on from that.

“I do think that continuity is the key. Performance is consistency. So we’re working hard to find that consistency.

“Will Eddie be bringing in some Saracens characteristics and traits? I think so. Eddie was involved there and their defence coaches.

“There will be similar things, a couple of touches. We know he’ll want to have a couple of personal touches and some beliefs. Whether there is time to anchor those in, we’ll find out on Saturday.

“There are a couple of things we’ll need to be ready for. I think he’ll try to surprise us with something we haven’t seen somewhere along the line. That’s part of the challenge. The defensive line, their back attack from first-phase launch play or second or third - there will be something there.”

Traditionally England have relied on brute force rather than shock tactics in their bid to get on top of Scotland, while the Scots have had to rely on moving the ball away from the set piece as quickly as possible. But the pack assembled by Cotter is ready and willing to go head to head with the English all day if necessary, and the home back row looks better equipped to win the battle of the breakdown, having two natural openside flankers in John Hardie and John Barclay, while England have no-one to take on an equivalent role.

“We know where they’ll be coming at us,” the coach continued. “And these players are competitive: they’ll want to have a go and stand up to England.

“We’ve worked hard at certain parts of the game. Richie Gray has been helping us with his contact knowledge, which will be important.

“With the Six Nations offering limited preparation time, as we know, it’s good to have your defence and contact zones ready to go, ready to develop through the competition. Richie has brought in some fresh ideas – and some detail.

“This is quite an open group, they like looking at new things, they want to improve and become more competitive. So having that knowledge is a good thing. Richie has prepared teams for games against England, against Wales and against us – so he brings that inside knowledge, that knowledge of the opposition, which is important.”