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Tom Hamilton
England have made one change for their Six Nations clash with Scotland on Saturday at Twickenham with Ollie Chessum replacing George Martin in the second-row.
Steve Borthwick’s selection, with England again going early in the week with their team announcement, means Marcus Smith continues at fullback and Fin Smith is named at fly-half. That was the combination which helped steer England to their round two victory over France.
Elsewhere, Tom Curry is fit to start at blindside flanker, while Chessum is named at lock and Martin is included among the replacements.
England will be looking to snap a four-match losing run against Scotland as they look to win back the Calcutta Cup. This will be England’s third match of this year’s Six Nations having lost to Ireland and then beaten France last time around.
“We are looking forward to what will be another challenging and exciting match against Scotland,” Borthwick said. “The Calcutta Cup is a special fixture, and we are determined to perform to our very best in front of our supporters at Allianz Stadium.”
England:
Marcus Smith, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Lawrence, Henry Slade, Ollie Sleightholme, Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Will Stuart, Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum, Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Tom Willis.
Replacements: Jamie George, Fin Baxter, Joe Heyes, George Martin, Chandler Cunningham-Smith, Ben Curry, Harry Randall, Elliot Daly.
Analysis from ESPN Senior Writer Tom Hamilton
The main selection question marks were over blindside and fly-half/fullback. Marcus Smith and Fin Smith dovetailed well at No. 15 and No. 10 respectively against France but there was a consideration for shifting things up against Scotland and go with a more established fullback to contest the aerial battle considering Finn Russell is likely to use the skies to Scotland’s advantage on Saturday.
But Borthwick has clearly seen enough in the Smith-Smith combination to give that another shot this weekend.
Elsewhere Chessum could’ve come into the frame as an option at blindside with Tom Curry potentially shifted to openside, but Borthwick has retained the same back-row which began the match against France, so they’ll be looking to use mobility in the pack, and then bringing on the power on their 6-2 split bench in the second half.
England have had a dismal record in this fixture, losing their last four matches with Scotland. Borthwick has shown the team videos of previous defeats to Scotland this week to get them fired up, and this squad will be looking to back up their victory over France with another on Saturday against the auld enemy.
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