Nowell starts for England

By Mark Stevens
9/3/17

Eddie Jones has named his side for England’s Calcutta Cup match against Scotland at Twickenham Stadium on Saturday (kick-off 4pm, live on ITV).

There are three changes to the starting XV that beat Italy in the third round of the 2017 RBS 6 Nations to maintain England’s unbeaten start to the Championship. In the back line Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby) is reinstated at outside-centre, Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs) is named on the right-wing and Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) starts at scrum-half.

Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby) and Billy Vunipola (Saracens) return to an England match-day 23 for the first time in this year’s Championship having both returned from injury. They are joined by Danny Care (Harlequins) and Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors) in the only other changes to the bench.

Saturday’s match will see 26-year old loose-head prop Joe Marler (Harlequins) win his 50th cap for England having made his debut against South Africa at Kings Park Stadium in Durban in 2012. To mark the milestone Marler will lead the team out of the tunnel for England’s 124th Calcutta Cup game.

“Our preparation for Scotland has been very good,” said England head coach Jones. “We had two excellent training runs in Oxford last week and followed that up this week.

“We’re focused on ourselves; we want to give our fans a really good performance. We’ve worked hard in this RBS 6 Nations and feel like a good performance is just around the corner.

“This is the 124th Calcutta Cup and I feel humbled and honoured to be part of such an historic rugby occasion, it’s the oldest international fixture and means a lot to both countries. We treasure the experience.

“I congratulate Joe Marler on his 50-cap milestone. I’ve coached a lot of good players and he is certainly one of the best. He is an honest and committed team man and a fine individual. To have him and Mako Vunipola available together to give us 80 minutes at loose-head is an enormous advantage.”

England squad to face Scotland

15. Mike Brown (vice captain, Harlequins, 58 caps)
14. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 21 caps)
13. Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 31 caps)
12. Owen Farrell (vice captain, Saracens, 50 caps)
11. Elliot Daly (Wasps, 11 caps)
10. George Ford (Bath Rugby, 33 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 68 caps)
1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 49 caps)
2. Dylan Hartley (captain, Northampton Saints, 82 caps)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 72 caps)
4. Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 40 caps)
5. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 56 caps)
6. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 10 caps)
7. James Haskell (Wasps, 73 caps)
8. Nathan Hughes (Wasps, 6 caps)

Replacements
16. Jamie George (Saracens, 15 caps)
17. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 40 caps)
18. Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 6 caps)
19. Tom Wood (Northampton Saints, 48 caps)
20. Billy Vunipola (vice captain, Saracens 32 caps)
21. Danny Care (Harlequins, 69 caps)
22. Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors, 6 caps)
23. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 24 caps)