Scotland unchanged for crucial Calcutta Cup clash

Gregor Townsend has retained faith in the side that beat France by naming an unchanged XV for Scotland’s Calcutta Cup contest against England.

Scotland twice trailed by 10 points against Les Bleus, but fought back – thanks in large part to the boot of Greig Laidlaw – to record a 32-26 victory.

As such, head coach Townsend makes no alterations for his starting XV at Murrayfield in a match they must win to retain a realistic chance of claiming the Six Nations title.

“The players put a huge amount of effort into our win over France. They found a way to win and kept attacking the opposition up until the final whistle,” Townsend said in quotes reported by Scottish Rugby.

“England are the number two side in the world and have shown a very good level of consistency in the past couple of seasons. This is due to the quality of their playing and coaching staff, who have done a tremendous job.

“They have a very good defence, an excellent set-piece and like to get 10 and 12 on the ball as much as possible in attack. Taking on England is going to be a huge challenge and we are well aware that only our very best will be good enough in this fixture.

“As always our supporters will play a vital role throughout the match and we’re delighted to be back at Murrayfield with the backing of our home fans.”

Scotland do make three changes to their bench, though, with fit-again prop Willem Nel and lock Tim Swinson replacing Jon Welsh and Ben Toolis, while centre Nick Grigg is added to the replacements after putting in a Man-of-the-Match showing for Glasgow Warriors against Cheetahs in Pro14.

Scotland XV: Stuart Hogg, Tommy Seymour, Huw Jones, Peter Horne, Sean Maitland, Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw; Gordon Reid, Stuart McInally, Simon Berghan, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, John Barclay, Hamish Watson, Ryan Wilson

Replacements: Scott Lawson, Jamie Bhatti, Willem Nel, Tim Swinson, David Denton, Ali Price, Nick Grigg, Blair Kinghorn

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