England unchanged for Scotland clash

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 01: England head coach Stuart Lancaster sits in the stands during the England Captain's Run at Twickenham Stadium on November 1, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 01: England head coach Stuart Lancaster sits in the stands during the England Captain's Run at Twickenham Stadium on November 1, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Published Feb 6, 2014

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London – Coach Stuart Lancaster has named an unchanged side for England's Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday as his side look to get their Six Nations championship campaign back on track.

England suffered a last-gasp 26-24 defeat to France in their tournament opener on Saturday, and will be desperate to avoid losing their first two matches for the first time in nine years.

Winger Jonny May, who managed only eight minutes in his second match for England before leaving the field with a fractured nose, and lock Courtney Lawes, who bruised a cheekbone in Paris, were both passed fit earlier in the week.

It is the first time in 23 matches in charge that Lancaster has named the same 23-man squad for two consecutive games, while the forward pack remains unchanged for the third straight outing.

Heavy favourites England have not scored more than 15 points at Murrayfield since 2004 but they have not lost to Scotland since 2008 either.

“It's good to be able to select the same players and they are all determined to put last week's result behind us and build on the performance,” Lancaster said.

“Scotland will be hugely motivated by their defeat in Dublin and, as we found two years ago, Murrayfield is a tough place to play.”

Scotland lost 28-6 to Ireland in Dublin in their tournament opener.

ENGLAND TEAM

15-Mike Brown, 14-Jack Nowell, 13-Luther Burrell, 12-Billy Twelvetrees, 11-Jonny May, 10-Owen Farrell, 9-Danny Care; 8-Billy Vunipola, 7-Chris Robshaw (captain), 6-Tom Wood, 5-Courtney Lawes, 4-Joe Launchbury, 3-Dan Cole, 2-Dylan Hartley, 1-Joe Marler. Replacements:16-Tom Youngs, 17-Mako Vunipola, 18-Henry Thomas, 19-Dave Attwood, 20-Ben Morgan, 21-Lee Dickson 22-Brad Barritt, 23-Alex Goode. – Reuters

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