Andrew Brace of Ireland is the man in the middle, while Joy Neville has her hands at the keys in the TMO truck ready to join in as required.

A peep of the whistle, and off we go…

England’s players are accompanied by Laura Wright’s soprano – little fuss as she crescendos to the final note, and into battle the players will stride.

The socially distanced Scottish squad sing along to the bagpipes of “Flower of Scotland”, Stuart Hogg swaying with nervous anticipation and adrenaline at the end of the line. The captain is ready.

The players also observe a silence as rugby unites against racism, with most of the England squad and a number of Scots taking a knee with bowed heads.

Out onto the field come the players, each side clad in something a little special: Scotland’s players each wear kits adorned with the name of their equivalent from that first fixture 150 years ago at Raeburn Place, while England have a special anniversary kit modelled on the one worn on that occasion.

All in the ground clap in commemeration of some of those we have sadly lost from the rugby fraternity recently, along with Captain Tom.

Just the one “fan” at Twickenham this afternoon – Warren Gatland has returned from the Covid-free, sunlit lands of New Zealand to the bleak late winter of the UK. Important business, of course, with the Lions coach preparing for a tour that may not tour, with the location and status of the series against South Africa still in doubt.

He’s nestled somewhere in the stands to see who puts their hand up for selection.

Eddie Jones was keen to talk down the selection of Ollie Lawrence at inside centre in the week, stressing how little the game is played from structure and how the number on his back matters little with so much of the game contested in open play. Still, for the sake of looking ahead to the game, let’s focus on two 12s, one on debut, one making his first Six Nations start.

The pair are rather famiiliar to one another – England U20 team-mates on the field, good friends off it. The cannonball Lawrence has the muscle to punch holes even in the most staunch of defences and will relish the opportunity to thump into a great mate if given the opportunity. This England midfield is not dissimilar in appearance to the one that dismantled both Ireland and Australia in 2019 – Lawrence is a slightly different player to Manu Tuilagi, but he may be able to offer similar go forward on the hard line. He’s got lovely offloading hands, too.

Redpath’s selection is fascinating. He may well have won an England cap in South Africa in 2018 were it not for an untimely serious injury, but has remained in and around the squad since recovering from that long lay-off. He has kicked on since a mid-season move to Bath last year, and Scotland’s luring of him north of the border looks a real coup.

Son of former Scotland scrum-half Bryan, who partnered coach Gregor Townsend in the halves regularly at Test level, Redpath could complete this talented Scottish backline. He can draw on the defensive steel and solidity of Chris Harris outside him, and his ability as a second playmaker opens up real options next to Finn Russell if Scotland wish to be creative in attack after their defensive development last year. It’ll be fascinating to see how both 21-year-olds go this afternoon.

Kick-off is ten minutes away…