England name team to face Scotland

Eddie Jones has made five changes to his England starting line-up following last Sunday’s loss to France in Paris.

Facing a round two trip to Scotland on Saturday with their Guinness Six Nations title hopes now on the line after their round one defeat, Jones has changed three of his starting pack.

Mako Vunipola returns in place of Joe Marler, George Kruis steps up for Charlie Ewels and Lewis Ludlam comes in for Courtney Lawes. Of the three omitted players, Lawes is the only one to make the bench.

In the backs, Willi Heinz has been promoted in place of Ben Youngs while Jonathan Joseph takes over from the injured Manu Tuilagi at outside centre.

On the bench, where the split is six forwards and just two backs, there are inclusions for Tom Dunn, Joe Launchbury and Ben Earl who didn’t feature at the Stade de France.

Eddie Jones has named his side to face Scotland in the second round of the #GuinnessSixNations 🌹#WearTheRose @O2sports pic.twitter.com/6JEbUdCu8H

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 6, 2020

Jones is persisting with his use of flanker Tom Curry as his No8 in the absence of the injured Billy Vunipola while he has also opted not to tinker with his back three and is giving George Furbank a second outing at full-back.

Jones said: “Preparation this week has been great. We have sought to address the issues from the France game and have had a really good and sharp preparation for Scotland.

“Scotland are a dangerous side. They like to play with a lot of width and with a lot of flow and tempo in their game. We want to make sure we dominate the gain line.

"We want to be brutal. We don’t want to give them an inch to breathe. We’re coming for them.”#SCOvENG #SixNations https://t.co/sBeHOSBZvT

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 6, 2020

“Their win record against England at Murrayfield is substantially higher than their overall record against us, so we have to recognise they are a dangerous beast and we have to be at our best to beat them.”

Dunn was recalled back into the squad after Luke Cowan-Dickie left camp on Thursday morning to be with his partner who has gone into labour.

England starting XV
15 George Furbank (Northampton Saints, 1 cap)
14 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 53 caps)
13 Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 48 caps)
12 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 80 caps) C
11 Elliot Daly (Saracens, 40 caps)
10 George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 66 caps)
9 Willi Heinz (Gloucester Rugby, 10 caps)
1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 58 caps)
2 Jamie George (Saracens, 46 caps)
3 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 32 caps)
4 Maro Itoje (Saracens, 35 caps)
5 George Kruis (Saracens, 42 caps)
6 Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 7 caps)
7 Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 16 caps)
8 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 20 caps)

Finishers
16 Tom Dunn (Bath Rugby, uncapped)
17 Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 15 caps)
18 Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 1 cap)
19 Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 62 caps)
20 Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 82 caps)
21 Ben Earl (Saracens, uncapped)
22 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 96 caps)
23 Ollie Devoto (Exeter Chiefs, 2 caps)

WATCH: The Rugby Pod reflects on England’s loss in Paris and looks ahead to the Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland