England rugby team vs Scotland: Eddie Jones makes one change for Six Nations clash
NATHAN HUGHES will start for England just two months after injuring his knee, the only change Eddie Jones has made to his side for the Six Nations clash with Scotland on Saturday (4.45pm).
James Haskell and Joe Marler had been named in the 25-man squad after spending time out due to bans, but only the latter made it into the match-day squad with the Harlequins prop named as a replacement.
Marley replaces Alec Hepburn while Jones only change to the starting line-up is an enforced one, the cruelly injured Sam Simmonds, impressing in his first Six Nations, replaced by Hughes.
The Wasps No 8 was initially expected to be out of the entire Six Nations when he damaged his knee before the turn of the year, joining fellow back-rower Billy Vunipola on the sidelines.
However, the Fiji-born No 8 has made a remarkable recovery and will join Chris Robshaw and Courtney Lawes in an overtly physical back row.
And Jones has no worries about whether he will be up the test of playing international rugby so soon after his layoff.
“Nathan Hughes has worked hard on his fitness,” Jones says.
“I’ve never seen him in better physical condition, so we are looking forward to him playing.
“Nathan has a key role in defence and in us gaining momentum in attack.”
England team to face Scotland
Starting XV: Mike Brown, Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, Owen Farrell, Jonny May; George Ford, Danny Care; Mako Vunipola, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes, Chris Robshaw, Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: Jamie George, Joe Marler, Harry Williams, George Kruis, Sam Underhill, Richard Wigglesworth, Ben Te’o, Jack Nowell.
England team announcement AS IT HAPPENED
9.40am: No word yet on the exact nature of Owen Farrell's condition - fully expect some tight-lipped answers on that one - but that may yet play out as the Calcutta Cup build-up continues.
That's all from us for now. See you on Saturday for the big one!
9.30am: More from coach Jones here, who is grateful for the weekend off last week.
“We are really excited about this game and we will need to be very tough and relentless in our defence to keep the pressure on this Scottish team,” Jones adds.
“They are renowned for their attack so we will need to put pressure on them, create opportunities through our defence for our attack, and convert those opportunities to points.
“Our preparation over the last two weeks has been important in that it has allowed us to regenerate the players, improve the fitness of some and to get a clear understanding on how we will play this weekend.”
9.20am: Eddie Jones doesn’t seem too worried about the fact that Hughes has only played twice since his knee injury in November.
“Nathan Hughes has worked hard on his fitness,” Jones says.
“I’ve never seen him in better physical condition, so we are looking forward to him playing.
“Nathan has a key role in defence and in us gaining momentum in attack.”
9.15am: England make just one change to the starting XV, with Nathan Hughes jumping straight back into the team as expected. He's been on an intensive fitness course with England in an effort to get him up to speed - Saturday will tell us if it has worked.
Only one change to the bench as well - Joe Marler returns from his ban to replace Alec Hepburn while James Haskell will be a travelling reserve you would expect to provide cover across the back row.
Starting XV: Mike Brown, Anthony Watson, Jonathan Joseph, Owen Farrell, Jonny May; George Ford, Danny Care; Mako Vunipola, Dylan Hartley, Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes, Chris Robshaw, Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: Jamie George, Joe Marler, Harry Williams, George Kruis, Sam Underhill, Richard Wigglesworth, Ben Te’o, Jack Nowell.
9.10am: One thing we haven't talked about yet is Owen Farrell's injury - the talisman sat out training on Tuesday with a leg injury and it will be fascinating to see if he is named as a starter today.
If not, Ben Te'o will likely slot in at 12, a move that would change the face of the England attack.
9am: We should have a look at the Scotland team really. Gregor Townsend has named an unchanged side from the one that ground out a win over France - and that meant not dropping Finn Russell. Scrum-half Greig Laidlaw finished the game at 10 and Russell has been poor in the opening two games of the Six Nations.
My own thoughts are that he has decided he’s going to kick the ball more and as a natural risk-taker, he’s going for it all. Don’t think he should be trying to play other than his own game. He’ll be under pressure on Saturday, that’s for sure.
Scotland XV: Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour, Huw Jones, Pete Horne; Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw; Gordon Reid, Stuart McInally, Simon Berghan, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, John Barclay, Hamish Watson, Ryan Wilson.
8.45am: Former All-Black and Harlequins fly-half Nick Evans is one of the game’s very best writers if you ask me, and he has focused on Nathan Hughes in the Guardian today.
Interesting for him to point out that the Fiji-born forward - if selected - will create more problems for Scotland’s backs than forwards.
“The half-backs will be licking their lips thinking about the front-foot ball that someone like Hughes provides.
“He is a guy who will get through 15-20 carries and hit gain-line after gain-line.
“And defensively he’s a big hit man who can disrupt the set piece and put in those big shots to make sure the opposition is behind the gain-line.”
8.30am: England's recent record against Scotland makes for pleasant reading for fans of the Red Rose, especially last year's 61-21 mauling that poured cold water on the Lions campaigns of a number of Scottish players.
And once again, Scotland are full of promise - but former England international Mike Tindall still believes they are vulnerable. He's had this to say about Gregor Townsend's men.
"Scotland haven't had much of a defence for this Six Nations, so they are going to have to work on that.
"It gives England a lot of chances to go out there and try and break them down.
"Eddie Jones has talked about hunting and going after teams and at the moment I don't think he's really got them to do that, but this Scotland defence could provide that opportunity.”
8.15am: Bright and early for Eddie Jones this morning, although I suspect he is a habitual early riser. Don’t ask me why - he just gives off that vibe.
It’s a big day for the likes of Joe Marler and James Haskell today - both have been named in the 25-man squad and could feature on the collision after returning from bans. Nathan Hughes, the best No 8 England have had since… well, either Sam Simmonds or Billy Vunipiola… is back from injury too and could start despite having played just twice in 2018.