England v Scotland: Teams

Billy TwelvetreesBilly Twelvetrees will make his Test debut tomorrow after the Gloucester centre was named at inside centre to face Scotland in the RBS Six Nations opener at .
The 24-year-old, who was named in the England EPS for the first time earlier this month, replaces the injured Manu Tuilagi in one of two changes from the team that beat New Zealand at HQ in December.
The other change is also injury-forced with Harlequins taking over from Alex Corbisiero at loosehead.
As a result of Twelvetrees’ inclusion, Saracens’ Brad Barritt moves to outside centre with Owen Farrell keeping his place at fly-half.
Out wide, Quins full-back Mike Brown remains on the left wing with Saracens Alex Goode in the No.15 shirt.
Up front, rising star Joe Launchbury starts at lock once again with Courtney Lawes on the bench but more surprising maybe is the hooker position where ‘s Tom Youngs retains the No.2 jersey ahead of the fit-again Northampton captain Dylan Hartley, who missed the entire Test series through injury.
Leicester’s Dan Cole, who put on a world-class display against the All Blacks, will anchor the England scrum from tighthead with Ben Morgan at No.8.
England head coach said: “We are happy to stick with the team that did so well against New Zealand, especially in light of the fact that they have all been in good form for their clubs since then.
“There were some very tight calls, with some  experienced players coming back into contention, and I am sure the bench will have a significant impact on the game.
“We can’t wait to get back to Twickenham and hopefully experience the same atmosphere as the autumn when the crowd was superb. It means a lot to the players to have such support in the ground and watching on television.”

Flying: Sean Maitland
Flying: Sean Maitland

Kiwi-born winger Sean Maitland will also make his Test debut tomorrow after the Glasgow winger, who qualifies for Scotland through his grand-parents, was named on the right wing by interim coach Scott Jonhson.
He has made an impression since joining the Warriors in October and will form a lethal wing partnership with try-scoring machine Tim Visser.
Up front, Dougie Hall will start at hooker for the first time in six years while tight-head Euan Murray will earn his 50th Test cap for the occasion.
Following his impressive performance in the Heineken Cup with Top14 side Montpellier No.8 Johnnie Beattie is recalled and Gloucester captain Jim Hamilton partners Richie Gray in the engine room.
At half-backs, Ruaridh Jackson gets the nod at stand-off pushing Edinburgh’s Greig Laidlaw to scrum-half for the first time in his international career.
Johnson said: “I’ve spoken about the importance of this competition, the history and tradition of it, and you couldn’t get a more mouth-watering opening than the game between international ‘s oldest foes.
“Selection for us has been about form but also with an eye to the future.
“Sean Maitland is very proud to be pulling on the Scotland jersey for the first time.  His family will be rapt because they raised him in New Zealand always reminding him of his Scottish heritage, getting up in the early hours of the morning to watch both the Five and Six Nations games on the TV.
“He’s shown he can play footy with the best of them and the impact he’s made since arriving at Glasgow in the autumn has underlined what we’d seen of him playing for the Crusaders in .
“I’ve been impressed by what I’ve seen of Johnnie Beattie.  He brings dynamism to our back-row and we’re looking for him to bring that to bear on Saturday.”
England: Alex Goode (Saracens); Chris Ashton (Saracens), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester), Mike Brown (Harlequins); Owen Farrell (Saracens), Ben Youngs (Leicester); Joe Marler (Harlequins), Tom Youngs (Leicester), Dan Cole (Leicester); Joe Launchbury (London Wasps), Geoff Parling (Leicester); Tom Wood (Northampton), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, Capt.), Ben Morgan (Gloucester).
Replacements: Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), David Wilson (Bath), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), James Haskell (London Wasps), (Harlequins), Toby Flood (Leicester), David Strettle (Saracens).
Scotland: Stuart Hogg; Sean Maitland, Sean Lamont, Matt Scott, Tim Visser; Ruaridh Jackson, Greig Laidlaw; Ryan Grant, Dougie Hall, Euan Murray; Richie Gray, Jim Hamilton; Alasdair Strokosch, Kelly Brown, Johnnie Beattie.
Replacements: Ross Ford, Moray Low, Geoff Cross, Alastair Kellock, David Denton, Henry Pyrgos, Duncan Weir, Max Evans.
Read what Jeremy Guscott thinks about Twelvetrees’ inclusion in the England EPS here.

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