One change for England test
Head Coach Vern Cotter has made one change to the starting Scotland side to face England at Twickenham Stadium this Saturday in the RBS 6 Nations (kick-off 4 pm) – live on ITV.
Edinburgh Rugby back-row Hamish Watson returns to the front-line having started the opening two rounds of the Championship. He takes the place of the injured John Hardie (knee), whom he replaced in the 25th minute of the last round’s win over Wales.
Uncapped clubmate Cornell Du Preez takes Watson’s vacated place on the bench and will make his debut if called upon.
The Scots are seeking a first win in English headquarters since 1983 and a first Triple Crown since 1990, while England aims to equal New Zealand’s record of 18-straight Test wins for a tier-one nation.
Scotland has won two of their first three RBS 6 Nations games for the first time since 2006, their home victories over Ireland and Wales placing them third in the table going into the penultimate round on a highest-ever placing of fifth in the World Rugby Rankings.
Scotland Head Coach Vern Cotter said: “We have another two games to go in this Championship and this next one is obviously pretty important. There’s a lot to play for and several reasons why we should be able to get up for this game.
“We’ve rested, recovered and prepared as best we can for this game. We’ve asked some questions of ourselves and the areas we think we can improve and we’re confident we can play better as a team. That’s our next challenge, to step that up.
“The challenge is for us to combine the best parts of our performances so far in this campaign into one excellent performance at Twickenham this Saturday.
“We’ll need that to put us in a position to win this game and will enjoy the challenge of doing that against an England team that hasn’t lost in a while.”
The re-selection of the Scotland back three sees try-scorer against Wales, Tommy Seymour and Tim Visser, join forces with full-back Stuart Hogg, who will equal the record of former Scotland centre Jim Renwick as the most-capped player out of Hawick RFC with a 52nd appearance.
Centre Alex Dunbar partners Huw Jones for the fourth match in succession while the Glasgow Warriors half-back partnership of Finn Russell and Ali Price takes to the field once more.
In the pack, an all-Glasgow Warriors front-row of Gordon Reid, Fraser Brown and Zander Fagerson kick-off proceedings alongside returning second-row brothers Jonny and Richie Gray, with Watson joined by captain John Barclay and number 8 Ryan Wilson in the loose forwards.
Scotland team to play England at Twickenham, RBS 6 Nations
Saturday 11 March (kick-off 4 pm) – live on ITV
15. Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 51 caps; 16 tries, 3 pens, 89 points
14. Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 34 caps; 15 tries, 75 points
13. Huw Jones (Stormers) – 6 caps; 2 tries, 10 points
12. Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors) – 22 caps; 6 tries, 30 points
11. Tim Visser (Harlequins) – 29 caps; 12 tries, 60 points
10. Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 25 caps; 2 tries, 5 cons, 8 pens, 44 points
9. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 3 caps
1. Gordon Reid (Glasgow Warriors) – 22 caps
2. Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 23 caps
3. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 7 caps
4. Richie Gray (Toulouse) – 63 caps; 3 tries, 15 points
5. Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 31 caps; 2 tries, 10 points
6. John Barclay CAPTAIN (Scarlets) – 58 caps; 4 tries, 20 points
7. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 8 caps; 1 try, 5 points
8. Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 25 caps
Substitutes:
16. Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) – 105 caps; 2 tries, 10 points
17. Allan Dell (Edinburgh Rugby) – 6 caps
18. Simon Berghan (Edinburgh Rugby) – 1 cap
19. Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 27 caps; 1 try, 5 points
20. Cornell Du Preez (Edinburgh Rugby) – uncapped
21. Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps; 4 tries, 3 pens, 29 points
22. Duncan Weir (Edinburgh Rugby) – 25 caps; 2 tries, 7 cons, 10 pens, 1 drop, 57 points
23. Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps; 6 tries, 30 points
Related Posts
« DHL Stormers, Emirates Lions chasing third win in a row – Vodacom Super Rugby Round 3 Preview Concussion gets the Blue Card from NZ Rugby »
