6N 2017: England vs Scotland

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ENGLAND v SCOTLAND
Saturday 10th March
16:00 GMT
Twickenham Stadium

Live on ITV, RTE, FR2, DMAX

Referee - Matthieu Raynal
AR1 - Romain Poite
AR2 - Marius Mitrea
TMO - Ben Skeen

A. Head to Head

134 Played 134
74 Won 42
18 Drawn 18
42 Lost 74
1,562 Points 1,141

B. Recent Form

6 February 2016
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
9 – 15 to England

14 March 2015
Twickenham, London
25 – 13 to England

8 February 2014
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
0 – 20 to England

2 February 2013
Twickenham, London
38 – 18 to England

4 February 2012
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
6 – 13 to England

C. Teams

ENGLAND


Starting XV:

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).

Finishers

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).

SCOTLAND


Starting XV

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

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Pack after 50min.....

1. Mako
2. George
3. Cole
4. Launchbury
5. Lawes
6. Itoje
7. Haskell
8. Billy

Tom Wood heartbroken to read that.

TightHEAD wrote:Is that potentially the strongest bench in world rugby?

Potentially the best in the history of anything, ever, for whatever reason.

Well I'm not worried about the England bench, heard Cotter's got a cunning plan to deal with it.

George Carlin wrote:

TightHEAD wrote:Is that potentially the strongest bench in world rugby?

Potentially the best in the history of anything, ever, for whatever reason.

Genuinely, I think it's better than sex at Christmas.

You'll need a bigger catapult.

Amazing opening to that Tom English article:

Jason O'Halloran has heard the chat, the compliments but also the caveats, the praise for what Scotland are doing in this Six Nations but also the stuff about 'smash and grabs' and how Ireland and Wales 'should have won' those games.

"I've heard that, yeah," says O'Halloran, Scotland's attack coach brought in from Manawatu in time for the 2016 Championship.

"They say, 'Oh, Ireland had a bad day and Wales had a bad day.' Apparently everyone we've beaten has had a bad day. It's patronising at times. I think it's a bit of a hangover from the past."

Not really that much to talk about in that team, pretty much as expected. The only two Q's from yesterday were Hughes or Billy to start and Watson or May on the bench.

On balance, you'd say Eddie has probably got those two correct.

I'm hoping England have enough about them to take it to Scotland from the start. I think England can put the squeeze on with the scrum, driving line-out and kicking game from 9, 10 and 12 to hopefully generate good ball in Scottish territory.

Then when the subs are brought on it will give us more carrying and ball-in-hand options to change the way we play.

I would eventually like to see England try starting like they finish and possibly finish how they start. So start the big carriers on to look to score points from the off, then squeeze the life out of games at the end with the opposition forced to chase, but Scotland in the Six Nations with potentially the Championship, the Grand Slam and the win record on the line possibly isn't the time.

Hope we're all ready for the drip fed Scotland team announcement....

RDW_Scotland wrote:Hope we're all ready for the drip fed Scotland team announcement....

Yes

George Carlin wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Hope we're all ready for the drip fed Scotland team announcement....

Yes

although

RDW_Scotland wrote:Hope we're all ready for the drip fed Scotland team announcement....

Blocked the next hour out in my calendar....I only hope that's enough time

George Carlin wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Hope we're all ready for the drip fed Scotland team announcement....

Yes

although

it's still

16 Ford
17 Dell
18 Berghan
19 Swinson
20 Du Preez
21 Pyrgos
22 Weir
23 Bennett

6 Barclay
7 Watson
8 Wilson

4 Gray
5 Gray

1 Reid
2 Brown
3 Fagerson

9 Price
10 Russell

12 Dunbar
13 Jones

11 Visser
14 Seymour
15 Hogg

Only questions for me are:

No Maitland?

Horne/Weir on bench

CDP better get his mojo back pronto!

Let's be honest, if you were putting a combined team together from the named line-ups, it would look something like:
Marler
Even
Cole
Launchbury
Johnny Gray
Itoje (actually Haskell)
Watson
Even (neither outstanding)

Youngs
Russell
Nowell
Farrell
Joseph
Daly
Hogg

Bench
Mako
George
Sinkler
Wood
Billy V
Care
Te'o
Watson

A few close calls (both centres, and picking two 2nd rows out of the 4 plus Itoje...), but I think England start with an advantage in the front row and in the 3/4s (but Hogg over Brown and Russell over Ford might off-set that). 2nd row is just 4 very good players head to head, while the back row is a contrast in style between England's power and Scotland's dynamism.

Biggest difference I see is the relative strengths of the benches.

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 4pm) – 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 aim to equal New Zealand’s record of 18-straight Test wins for a tier-one nation.

Scotland have 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 in to 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 4pm) – 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

I think huw Jones looks pretty good?

Fair enough from Scotland - shame for Maitland but Visser has been hot and cover at centre is likely to be needed more.

Bennett is the correct call - he is quicksilver and a game breaker. Cotter is not Howley, thank feck and Bennett's size is less important than his skillset.

Duncan Weir is an absolute waste of space and I cannot believe he is on the bench. Young Adam Hastings cannot come on quickly enough.

Replacing the Glasgow front row with the Edinburgh front row makes sense.

Tiny Tim was always going to be bench lock cover regardless of how much we all think Toolis has been hard done by.

Am delighted that CDP is there! He's just what we need and I think that he might surprise a lot of people.

Looks like Farrell has taken a knock in training - don't know how serious though.

If he is out Im guessing Ford would have been 10 anyway - who would you guys have mid field instead ?

Slade/teo, jj

munkian wrote:Looks like Farrell has taken a knock in training - don't know how serious though.

If he is out Im guessing Ford would have been 10 anyway - who would you guys have mid field instead ?

Where did you see that?

Scottrf wrote:

munkian wrote:Looks like Farrell has taken a knock in training - don't know how serious though.

If he is out Im guessing Ford would have been 10 anyway - who would you guys have mid field instead ?

Where did you see that?

Ben Coles on twitter.

More
Worry for England after Farrell received treatment on his leg and then left the practice field. Press conference at 1.

Teo seems to be higher in EJ thinking of late!
It would be Teo to starting and Slade to bench.........Although Farrell would be a blow with Fords recent kicking form not being great.

Yeah, I thought Slade primarily for kicks.

propdavid_london wrote:Teo seems to be higher in EJ thinking of late!
It would be Teo to starting and Slade to bench.........Although Farrell would be a blow with Fords recent kicking form not being great.

If Farrell is injured then it makes more sense starting with Slade if not then I imagine Daly will take over kicking duties.

Well if this fixture doesn't get Cornell Du Preez motivated about his rugby again, nothing will. When England empty big Billy V off the bench, Du Preez is going to need to match that impact.

I'm pleased with the team selection. You can quibble over whether Maitland should have come back, but Visser is bang on form and, unlike Daly, is a specialist winger.

I'm getting exciting about this one.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

propdavid_london wrote:Teo seems to be higher in EJ thinking of late!
It would be Teo to starting and Slade to bench.........Although Farrell would be a blow with Fords recent kicking form not being great.

If Farrell is injured then it makes more sense starting with Slade if not then I imagine Daly will take over kicking duties.

If Farrell is injured, Jones will back his man, no doubt. Ford will be kicking. Ford is a prized asset for Jones, and he is somewhat of a confidence player. Can't see a situation where Jones destroys his confidence by giving he duties to Daly.

cascough wrote:

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

propdavid_london wrote:Teo seems to be higher in EJ thinking of late!
It would be Teo to starting and Slade to bench.........Although Farrell would be a blow with Fords recent kicking form not being great.

If Farrell is injured then it makes more sense starting with Slade if not then I imagine Daly will take over kicking duties.

If Farrell is injured, Jones will back his man, no doubt. Ford will be kicking. Ford is a prized asset for Jones, and he is somewhat of a confidence player. Can't see a situation where Jones destroys his confidence by giving he duties to Daly.

Jones is a man who wants to win first and foremost, he won't be doing anything to appease just one player.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

cascough wrote:

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

propdavid_london wrote:Teo seems to be higher in EJ thinking of late!
It would be Teo to starting and Slade to bench.........Although Farrell would be a blow with Fords recent kicking form not being great.

If Farrell is injured then it makes more sense starting with Slade if not then I imagine Daly will take over kicking duties.

If Farrell is injured, Jones will back his man, no doubt. Ford will be kicking. Ford is a prized asset for Jones, and he is somewhat of a confidence player. Can't see a situation where Jones destroys his confidence by giving he duties to Daly.

Jones is a man who wants to win first and foremost, he won't be doing anything to appease just one player.

Can Jamie George kick?

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

cascough wrote:

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

propdavid_london wrote:Teo seems to be higher in EJ thinking of late!
It would be Teo to starting and Slade to bench.........Although Farrell would be a blow with Fords recent kicking form not being great.

If Farrell is injured then it makes more sense starting with Slade if not then I imagine Daly will take over kicking duties.

If Farrell is injured, Jones will back his man, no doubt. Ford will be kicking. Ford is a prized asset for Jones, and he is somewhat of a confidence player. Can't see a situation where Jones destroys his confidence by giving he duties to Daly.

Jones is a man who wants to win first and foremost, he won't be doing anything to appease just one player.

Is Daly a better percentage kicker than Ford? Talking in general, not in long range shots.

robbo277 wrote:Is Daly a better percentage kicker than Ford? Talking in general, not in long range shots.

Doubtful. Ford is generally fine, just has meltdowns.

IanBru wrote:

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

cascough wrote:

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

propdavid_london wrote:Teo seems to be higher in EJ thinking of late!
It would be Teo to starting and Slade to bench.........Although Farrell would be a blow with Fords recent kicking form not being great.

If Farrell is injured then it makes more sense starting with Slade if not then I imagine Daly will take over kicking duties.

If Farrell is injured, Jones will back his man, no doubt. Ford will be kicking. Ford is a prized asset for Jones, and he is somewhat of a confidence player. Can't see a situation where Jones destroys his confidence by giving he duties to Daly.

Jones is a man who wants to win first and foremost, he won't be doing anything to appease just one player.

Can Jamie George kick?

Right that does it, I've had it with this Scottish disrespect .. questioning Jamie George is simply one step too far.

Scottrf wrote:

robbo277 wrote:Is Daly a better percentage kicker than Ford? Talking in general, not in long range shots.

Doubtful. Ford is generally fine, just has meltdowns.

His kicking was alright when he first got into the team but it's been awful each time he's kicked the past year for England.

In an ideal world maybe Slade would start at 12 who would be without doubt the best option, would keep the two playmaker tactic in place too.

Farrell will probably be fine to play anyway.

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

cascough wrote:

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

propdavid_london wrote:Teo seems to be higher in EJ thinking of late!
It would be Teo to starting and Slade to bench.........Although Farrell would be a blow with Fords recent kicking form not being great.

If Farrell is injured then it makes more sense starting with Slade if not then I imagine Daly will take over kicking duties.

If Farrell is injured, Jones will back his man, no doubt. Ford will be kicking. Ford is a prized asset for Jones, and he is somewhat of a confidence player. Can't see a situation where Jones destroys his confidence by giving he duties to Daly.

Jones is a man who wants to win first and foremost, he won't be doing anything to appease just one player.

I wasn't for a minute suggesting Jones will have George Ford kicking so he won't be upset and will still come over for christmas.

And I completely agree, Jones wants to win. That was my point. He sees George Ford as absolutely central to England's success (past, current and future) so he won't be doing something to damage that.

IanBru wrote:

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

cascough wrote:

Hammersmith harrier wrote:

propdavid_london wrote:Teo seems to be higher in EJ thinking of late!
It would be Teo to starting and Slade to bench.........Although Farrell would be a blow with Fords recent kicking form not being great.

If Farrell is injured then it makes more sense starting with Slade if not then I imagine Daly will take over kicking duties.

If Farrell is injured, Jones will back his man, no doubt. Ford will be kicking. Ford is a prized asset for Jones, and he is somewhat of a confidence player. Can't see a situation where Jones destroys his confidence by giving he duties to Daly.

Jones is a man who wants to win first and foremost, he won't be doing anything to appease just one player.

Can Jamie George kick?

He has a nice range of grubber kicks, not sure about from the tee.

robbo277 wrote:

IanBru wrote:
Can Jamie George kick?

He has a nice range of grubber kicks, not sure about from the tee.

He may be better than Finn Russell at conversions from in front of the posts

Big boost for Scotland if Farrell is injured - he is a key player for England.

Farrells kicking form hasnt exactly been great recently

Gooseberry wrote:Farrells kicking form hasnt exactly been great recently

That's a good point actually. Come on Faz! Shake it off!!

Gooseberry wrote:Farrells kicking form hasnt exactly been great recently

His been spending too much time playing Fifa at home instead of down his local park kicking like Wilko used too.

Ford is a dreadful kicker if he misses his first kick at goal, doesn't have the head of an international kicker imho.

TightHEAD wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:Farrells kicking form hasnt exactly been great recently

His been spending too much time playing Fifa at home instead of down his local park kicking like Wilko used too.

Congratulations. It had been at least 6 hours since an England rugby fan mentioned Jonny Wilkinson.....

Should Farrell miss out, I do think England will cope fine. Either Slade or Teo would do a decent job at 12.

Agreed, both could do with practicing drop goals too.