Preview: Scotland vs England (Saturday, 4:45pm)
George Furbank starts for England for the first time since March 2022 as the visitors make five changes for their crucial Calcutta Cup clash against Scotland at Murrayfield.
Furbank replaces Freddie Steward at full-back, Ollie Lawrence returns from injury at inside-centre, Danny Care replaces the injured Alex Mitchell at scrum half and Ellis Genge and Dan Cole start in the front-row.
Two additions to the bench are lock George Martin who has recovered from injury and scrum-half Ben Spencer.
Scotland have made three changes following their controversial defeat to France with Blair Kinghorn, Kyle Steyn and Jamie Ritchie restored to the team.
Kinghorn returns from injury and starts at fullback making his first appearance in the Championship, Steyn returns on the wing having been a late absentee for the France game on account of his wife going into labour, and Ritchie returns at blindside flanker having started Scotland’s opening weekend win over Wales.
England have won their opening two games and are on an impressive run of eight victories in nine games since the start of The 2023 Rugby World Cup.
However, head coach Steve Borthwick is under no illusions of the size of the challenge facing his side at Murrayfield, England have won only one of their last six Calcutta Cup clashes and will need to produce a special performance to keep their Grand Slam and Triple Crown hopes alive.
He said: “We’re pleased with the start we’ve made to our Guinness Six Nations campaign but know that a difficult test awaits us in Edinburgh against an in-form Scotland team.
“The atmosphere is always special for any Calcutta Cup match and I’m sure this weekend’s game at Murrayfield will be no different.
“This group of players are looking forward to the challenge on Saturday and to creating some very special memories.”
Gregor Townsend expressed his delight at Blair Kinghorn’s return, and explained his rational behind reinstating former captain Jamie Ritchie to the side for this crucial clash.
He said: “[Kinghorn] had a good week with Toulouse and we’re obviously delighted that he’s fully fit he got through training really well, it wasn’t a long injury just a couple of weeks he missed, he’s ready to go, a key player for us over the past two seasons.
“Jamie first of all has been a very good player for us and was our captain just a few games ago, he responded really well to not being in the team and played very well for Edinburgh in Italy.
“We feel the breakdown is going to be such an important area for the outcome of the match, and to have Jamie and Rory putting pressure on England’s breakdown and providing us go forward in attack and defence is great.”
Scotland started their campaign with victory in Cardiff, their first since 2002, but then succumbed to a controversial 20-16 defeat to France after Sam Skinner was ruled to have been held up over the line.
Despite this setback Townsend believes his squad are in a good place and ready to deliver a winning performance against The Auld Enemy.
He added: “We’ve spent lots of time together and the group hasn’t changed too much bar a couple of injuries and the players know this is a massive opportunity, a huge game for us in terms of the Championship and as a one-off game.
“The mood is really good, there’s lots of positive energy in terms of playing at home taking on our biggest rival. We know we should’ve won against France, not just in terms of the decision at the end that we were frustrated with but in terms of the pressure we created and we need to make sure we’re better for this experience and we deliver a winning performance this weekend.
“Playing at home is important, to have back-to-back home games just makes everything flow much better, the energy we get in any game at home is tremendous but for this one it is something special.
“We don’t need to build the emotional side up too much, staying together, calm and delivering what we know these players are capable of bringing and riding on the wave of energy that the supporters are going to bring.”
Scotland will be full of confidence, having won their last three Calcutta Cup matches with England, their best run for over fifty years, and former Scotland Number 8 Johnnie Beattie has described this match as “hit or bust” for Scotland.
Beattie said: “Another defeat and it’s the end of their hopes of getting to Dublin on the last weekend with something tangible to play for. This is must-win. There’s no hiding from that.”
Written by Matthew Luddington
Scotland: Kinghorn, Steyn, Jones, Tuipulotu, van der Merwe; Russell (CC), White; Schoeman, Turner, Fagerson; Gilchrist, Cummings, Ritchie, Darge (CC), Dempsey
Replacements: Ashman, Hepburn, MIllar-Mills, Skinner, Christie; Horne, Healy, Redpath
England: Furbank, Freeman, Slade, Lawrence, Daly; Ford, Care; Genge, George (C), Cole, Itoje, Chessum, Roots, Underhill, Earl
Replacements: Marler, Stuart, Dan, Martin, Cunningham-South, Spencer, Smith, Feyi-Waboso
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