The match, which kicks off at 4.45pm, will be screened live by STV and ITV. It is the 139th meeting of the teams, with England leading the series 76-43, with 19 of the games being drawn. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the fixture, which is the oldest in international rugby. The first meeting between the teams saw Scotland triumph at Raeburn Place in Edinburgh on March 17, 1871.

Match odds

England are overwhelming favourites to beat Scotland at Twickenham. The hosts are priced at 1/6 with William Hill who make Scotland 9/2 outsiders. The last time the sides met at Twickenham, in 2019, the game finished all square and Hills offer 25/1 for a draw today. Ladbrokes make England 1/5 to win, with Scotland again 9/2. They also offer 25/1 for the draw.

Key stats

The odds reflect Scotland’s appalling record at Twickenham. They have not beaten the hosts in a Five/Six Nations match at their London HQ since 1983 when Gala prop Jim Aitken captained the side to a 22-12 victory. England have lost just one of their last 12 Six Nations clashes with Scotland (winning nine and drawing two), with the reverse coming at BT Murrayfield in 2018. There have been four defeats in total against the Scots in the 21 years of the Six Nations, with the others coming in Edinburgh in 2000, 2006 and 2008.

Form guide

England are defending the Six Nations title they won last year. They recovered from an opening defeat by France to beat Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Italy. England also won the Autumn Nations Cup, beating a shadow French side in the final in December. Scotland finished fourth in the Autumn Nations Cup, beating Italy in Florence but losing at home to France and away to Ireland. In the 2020 Six Nations, Scotland lost their opening two games to Ireland and England but came back to beat France, Italy and Wales. It was the first time Scotland had won three Five/Six Nations matches in a row since 1996.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend and stand-off Finn Russell on the Twickenham pitch before kick-off. Picture: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images

New boys

Scotland back Cameron Redpath is the only uncapped player in the starting XVs. The Bath centre is dual qualified and was part of the England set-up, playing for them at under-20 level before deciding this season to opt for Scotland. His father, Bryan, is a former Scotland captain who won 60 caps. There could also be international debuts today for Dave Cherry, the Edinburgh hooker who is on the bench for Scotland, and Beno Obano, the Bath prop who is among the England replacements.

Soundbites

England coach Eddie Jones: “For Scotland this is their most important game of the year, they talk about it all the time. That’s a huge expectation for them and maybe, with 15 minutes to go in the game, the expectation is going to get pretty heavy for them.”

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend: “Cam Redpath is ready to go. We’ve seen that in his performances at Bath this year. He can’t wait to play and we can’t wait to see him out there.”

Teams

England: E Daly (Saracens); A Watson (Bath), H Slade (Exeter), O Lawrence (Worcester), J May (Gloucester); O Farrell (Saracens, capt), B Youngs (Leicester); E Genge (Leicester), J George (Saracens), W Stuart (Bath), M Itoje (Saracens), J Hill (Exeter), M Wilson (Newcastle), T Curry (Sale Sharks), B Vunipola (Saracens).

Replacements: L Cowan-Dickie (Exeter), B Obano (Bath), H Williams (Exeter), C Lawes (Northampton), B Earl (Bristol), D Robson (Wasps), G Ford (Leicester), M Malins (Bristol).

Scotland: S Hogg (Exeter, capt); S Maitland (Saracens), C Harris (Gloucester), C Redpath (Bath), D van der Merwe (Edinburgh); F Russell (Racing 92), A Price (Glasgow); R Sutherland (Edinburgh), G Turner (Glasgow), Z Fagerson (Glasgow), S Cummings (Glasgow), J Gray (Exeter), J Ritchie (Edinburgh), H Watson (Edinburgh), M Fagerson (Glasgow).

Replacements: D Cherry (Edinburgh), O Kebble (Glasgow), WP Nel (Edinburgh), R Gray (Glasgow), G Graham (Newcastle), S Steele (Harlequins), J van der Walt (Edinburgh), H Jones (Glasgow).

Referee: Andrew Brace (Ireland).

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England v Scotland: Match odds, key stats, teams news and new boys