England name settled side for Scotland clash in Six Nations

England have named a settled side for their Six Nations clash with Scotland, with captain Maro Itoje brought back in to the starting team.

Itoje was utilised off the bench in England’s opening win over Wales having arrived late in to camp ahead of the tournament, but is restored to skipper the side from the second row at the expense of Alex Coles.

Jamie George, who led the team before Itoje’s introduction in round one, also drops to the bench, with Luke Cowan-Dickie installed in the No 2 shirt, while it is an unchanged backline as Tommy Freeman and Henry Arundell keep their places at outside centre and on the left wing respectively.

A fit-again Fin Smith is recalled to the bench ahead of namesake Marcus, but there is no place in the matchday 23 for Ollie Lawrence.

“Playing Scotland at Murrayfield is always a fantastic occasion and a challenge we are relishing,” said Borthwick.

“We made a pleasing start to the championship, but we understand that we must continue to raise our standards. The squad has trained with focus and determination this week, and we’re excited for the opportunity to test ourselves again on Saturday.”

England extended their winning run to 12 matches with a 48-7 success against Wales, though have struggled of late on trips to Edinburgh.

Scotland have won three of the last four meetings between the two sides at Murrayfield.

England XV to face Scotland in Edinburgh (Saturday 14 February, 4.40pm GMT): 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Joe Heyes; 4 Maro Itoje (capt.), 5 Ollie Chessum; 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Ben Earl; 9 Alex Mitchell, 10 George Ford; 11 Henry Arundell, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 13 Tommy Freeman, 14 Tom Roebuck; 15 Freddie Steward.

Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Henry Pollock; 22 Ben Spencer, 23 Fin Smith.