Six Nations 2018: Scotland back in title race after win over England, says Frank Hadden
- Published
Scotland beat England to lift the Calcutta Cup
Former Scotland head coach Frank Hadden believes Saturday's win over England has resurrected the current side's hopes of winning the Six Nations title.
Hadden was in charge the last time they got the better of their neighbours.
"The fact that Scotland are back in the mix is much more exciting for the Six Nations," Hadden told BBC Scotland.
"Ireland away is our toughest match of the competition and if we can get through that one then, of course, it is only Italy away after that."
Scotland's 25-13 win at Murrayfield - their first in 10 years against England - means they are third in the table, six points behind leaders Ireland ahead of their trip to Dublin on 10 March.
But Hadden, who enjoyed victories in 2006 and 2008 against England, believes that last year's win in Australia should give Gregor Townsend's squad hopes of another upset.
"We've taken a bit of flak for not being good away from home," he admitted. "Well, nobody's as good away from home.
Scotland fly-half Finn Russell (right) was in excellent form against England
"It is very tough to win away from home and we're certainly no different from that.
"But the best performance I've seen us play in the last umpteen years was probably in Australia.
"When we beat Australia in Sydney, that was a remarkable performance in itself and that should give us some optimism for what's going to be an incredibly difficult challenge in Dublin."
Italy are again languishing at the foot of the Six Nations, but that has not proven an easy hunting ground for Scotland either.
"A speed bump in the past perhaps, but I think we're more than capable of doing something out in Rome," Hadden surmised.
Some have suggested that it was Scotland's greatest win over England considering that Eddie Jones' side are ranked second in the world and are back-to-back Six Nations champions.
"The game has moved on so much that it's difficult to compare the other eras," Hadden insisted.
"The skills of the professional players now are so much greater than they were in the past.
Frank Hadden led Scotland to victory over England in 2008
"But it is an amazing feat for Scotland, with our resources, to beat someone with the resources of England."
Huw Jones stole the headlines with two of Scotland's three tries, but Hadden picked out the winger's Glasgow Warriors' team-mate, Finn Russell, for special praise.
"It was great to see Finn Russell playing so well and he's grown into a world-class player over the last few years," the former Scotland coach added.
"He is still relatively young for a stand-off and the only thing that has possibly been lacking from his game is consistency.
"I think we're about to see the best of Finn and his performance on Saturday was just astonishing.
"The quality of his distribution is incredible, but he's got more than that - he's got so many strings to his bow.
"There are very few stand-offs in the world that are good runners, kickers and passers and his vision is just remarkable."