JOHN Barclay is back in the Scotland team for Saturday’s Calcutta Cup match against England after missing out on both the Rugby World Cup and the last three RBS Six Nations Championship campaigns. The 29-year-old will play in the No 6 jersey instead of Blair Cowan - one of just two alterations to the starting line-up from the side’s last match, the Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Australia in October.
The other change from the team that began that defeat sees Matt Scott come in at centre in place of the injured Peter Horne. Scott, who missed out on the Wallabies game after being injured, will partner Mark Bennett, who has been passed fit to play after recovering from a shoulder injury. The bench includes the uncapped Glasgow prop Zander Fagerson - the only member of the squad not to have played an international before.
New England coach Eddie Jones has shuffled his back row too, selecting former captain Chris Robshaw at blindside and James Haskell at openside. Mike Brown, Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola have all been announced as vice-captains to Dylan Hartley.
Like Scotland’s the English starting line-up contains no uncapped players. There are, however, three potential debutants on the bench in Paul Hill, Jack Clifford and Ollie Devoto.
Scotland (v England at Murrayfield, Saturday, kick-off 4.50pm): S Hogg (Glasgow); S Maitland (London Irish), M Bennett (Glasgow), M Scott (Edinburgh), T Seymour; F Russell (both Glasgow), G Laidlaw (Gloucester); A Dickinson, R Ford, W Nel (all Edinburgh), R Gray (Castres), J Gray (Glasgow), J Barclay (Scarlets), J Hardie (Edinburgh), D Denton (Bath). Substitutes: S McInally (Edinburgh), G Reid, Z Fagerson, T Swinson (all Glasgow), B Cowan (London Irish), S Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh), D Weir (Glasgow), D Taylor (Saracens).
England: M Brown (Harlequins); A Watson, J Joseph (both Bath), O Farrell (Saracens), J Nowell (Exeter); G Ford (Bath), D Care (Harlequins); J Marler (Harlequins), D Hartley (Northampton), D Cole (Leicester), J Launchbury (Wasps), G Kruis (Saracens), C Robshaw (Harlequins), J Haskell (Wasps), B Vunipola (Saracens). Substitutes: J George, M Vunipola (both Saracens), P Hill, C Lawes (both Northampton), J Clifford (Harlequins), B Youngs (Leicester), A Goode (Saracens), O Devoto (Bath).
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