Six Nations: Gregor Townsend names team to face England in Calcutta Cup


Townsend has made just three changes to his 23-man squad, all on the bench, with Edinburgh tighthead prop WP Nel coming in for Newcastle Falcons’ Jon Welsh; Glasgow Warriors lock Tim Swinson replacing his Edinburgh counterpart Ben Toolis while Warriors’ Nick Grigg is preferred over Newcastle centre Chris Harris.
Grigg impressed for Warriors in the bonus-point win over Cheetahs on Friday night and is the only new face among the replacement backs.
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Hide AdScotland Head Coach Gregor Townsend said: “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.
“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.
Eddie Jones is due to name his England team on Thursday.
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Hide AdScotland team to play England at BT Murrayfield Stadium in the NatWest 6 Nations Round 3: Saturday 24 February (kick-off 4.45pm)
15. Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 57 caps
14. Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 41 caps
13. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps
12. Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 30 caps
11. Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 31 caps
10. Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 34 caps
9. Greig Laidlaw (ASM Clermont Auvergne) – 60 caps
1. Gordon Reid (London Irish) – 29 caps
2. Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) – 14 caps
3. Simon Berghan (Edinburgh Rugby) – 6 caps
4. Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) – 20 caps
5. Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 40 caps
6. John Barclay CAPT (Scarlets) – 68 caps
7. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 17 caps
8. Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 34 caps
Replacements
16. Scott Lawson (Newcastle Falcons) – 47 caps
17. Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) – 5 caps
18. WP Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – 19 caps
19. Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 33 caps
20. David Denton (Worcester Warriors) – 36 caps
21. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps
22. Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors) – 1 cap
23. Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) – uncapped