The Scotland co-captain Finn Russell has been passed fit for Saturday’s Calcutta Cup match with England but his fellow back Darcy Graham misses out. The key duo were doubts for the Six Nations showdown at Allianz Stadium after colliding with each other and being forced off with head injuries in the first half of the defeat by Ireland.
The Bath stand-off Russell has been able to recover in time and pass the concussion protocols to be named at No 10. But Graham, who came off worst in the clash between the pair and was taken to hospital as a precaution, has not been deemed fit enough for inclusion in the 23.
The Edinburgh wing has been replaced by Glasgow’s Kyle Rowe in the only change to Scotland’s backline from the side that lost 32-18 to the Irish. There are two changes to the Scottish pack, with the Edinburgh pair Pierre Schoeman and Jamie Ritchie taking over from the Glasgow duo Rory Sutherland and Matt Fagerson in the front row and back row respectively.
England: M Smith (Harlequins); T Freeman (Northampton), O Lawrence (Bath), H Slade (Exeter), O Sleightholme (Northampton); F Smith (Northampton), A Mitchell (Northampton); E Genge (Bristol), L Cowan-Dickie (Sale), W Stuart (Bath), M Itoje (Saracens), O Chessum (Leicester), T Curry (Sale), B Earl (Saracens), T Willis (Saracens). Replacements: J George (Saracens), F Baxter (Harlequins), J Heyes (Leicester), G Martin (Leicester), C Cunningham-South (Harlequins), B Curry (Sale), H Randall (Bristol), E Daly (Saracens).
Scotland: B Kinghorn (Toulouse), K Rowe (Glasgow), H Jones (Glasgow), T Jordan (Glasgow), D Van der Merwe (Edinburgh), F Russell (Bath), B White (Toulon); P Schoeman (Edinburgh), D Cherry (Edinburgh), Z Fagerson (Glasgow), J Gray (Bordeaux), G Gilchrist (Edinburgh), J Ritchie (Edinburgh), R Darge (Glasgow), J Dempsey (Glasgow). Replacements: E Ashman (Edinburgh), R Sutherland (Glasgow), W Hurd (Leicester), S Skinner (Edinburgh), G Brown (Glasgow), M Fagerson (Glasgow), J Dobie (Glasgow), S McDowall (Glasgow).
Sutherland and Fagerson both drop to the bench where they are joined by fellow forwards Ewan Ashman, Will Hurd, Sam Skinner and Gregor Brown in a 6-2 split. Glasgow’s Jamie Dobie and Stafford McDowall – who both played more than half of the Ireland game after coming on for Graham and Russell – are again the two replacement backs as Gregor Townsend’s side head to Twickenham bidding to win the Calcutta Cup for the fifth year in succession.
