Gloucester centre Billy Twelvetrees will make his England debut in Saturday’s Six Nations match against Scotland at Twickenham. Twelvetrees, 24, replaces Manu Tuilagi and forms a midfield partnership with Brad Barritt of Saracens.
The only other change from the starting XV that beat New Zealand 38-21 in December is Joe Marler in for Alex Corbisiero at loose-head prop.
bbc
Tom Youngs retains his place at hooker ahead of Dylan Hartley.
Leicester’s Youngs, who wins his fifth cap, replaced Northampton’s injured Hartley for the autumn internationals, which culminated in England’s stunning defeat of the world champions.
Hartley, fly-half Toby Flood and winger David Strettle come on to the replacements’ bench for David Paice, Freddie Burns and Jonathan Joseph respectively.
Twelvetrees is not a like-for-like replacement for Tuilagi but he has a more rounded game than the Leicester man, offering a kicking game and a presence as a second playmaker outside Owen Farrell.
“We are happy to stick with the team that did so well against New Zealand, especially in light of the fact that they have all been in good form for their clubs since then,” said England head coach Stuart Lancaster.
“There were some very tight calls, with some experienced players coming back into contention, and I am sure the bench will have a significant impact on the game.
“We can’t wait to get back to Twickenham and hopefully experience the same atmosphere as the autumn when the crowd was superb.
“It means a lot to the players to have such support in the ground and watching on television.”
Twelvetrees joined the Leicester academy in 2007 and made his first appearance for the Tigers in 2009, scoring a try in a 14-point haul.
He was called up by the England Saxons in 2011 and moved to Gloucester at the end of last season.
Scotland are seeking their first victory at Twickenham since 1983.
England team: Alex Goode (Saracens), Chris Ashton (Saracens), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester), Mike Brown (Harlequins); Owen Farrell (Saracens), Ben Youngs (Leicester); Joe Marler (Harlequins), Tom Youngs (Leicester), Dan Cole (Leicester), Joe Launchbury (London Wasps), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Tom Wood (Northampton), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), Ben Morgan (Gloucester)
Replacements: Dylan Hartley (Northampton), David Wilson (Bath), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), James Haskell (London Wasps), Danny Care (Harlequins), Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers), David Strettle (Saracens)
My Bru picks are already in for this weekend’s first round of Six Nations Rugby.
Wales vs Ireland was the most difficult one to pick for, recon the Irish will win because Wales was pathetic end of last year.
England should walk Scotland without too much hassle.
France will beat an Azzurri side which will try their best in the first half, but France will be comfortable winners in the end.
I recon it’s between France and England for the Six Nations title this year.
@ grootblousmile:
Hey there GBS go along with your 1st and 3rd pick but as far as your 2nd pick goes what can I say…to quote the chocolate ad – ‘Now you’ver rrrruined the friendship’ 🙂 even if Scotland don’t win think it will be a close one and England will have to work hard.
U20’S: England beat Scotland; final score Eng U20 15-6 Scot U20. England Saxons against Scotland A next up, kick off in just over 5 minutes
Brief U20’s match report (thanks to glasgowwarriors): Scotland U20 went down 15-6 to England in the opening Six Natioans game at Brickfields Recreation Ground this evening.
Skippered by Jonny Gray, and with Adam Ashe and Mark Bennett starting, Scotland produced a fine display against a powerful England side.
Fly-half Tommy Allan put the Scots in front with an early penalty but the English were rewarded for their advantage in the scrum with a penalty try to lead 7-3 on the half hour mark.
But the Scots closed the gap with another Allan penalty to trail by a single point at the break.
Exeter’s Henry Slade extended the lead with a penalty before his club teammate Luke Cowan-Dickie sealed the win five minutes from time.
If am not mistaken Tommy Allan is John Allan’s (former Sharks etc hooker)nephew. He has been with Western Province and played for their juniors last year and some are predicting a bright future for him. Will be great if any of you Province fans can tell us more about Tommy Allan if you’ve seen him play etc…
Halftime- England Saxons 6 – 10 Scotland A
46 mins: Saxons 6 – 13 Scotland A
Sustained period of attack from Saxons, can Scotland A hold them out? Must be less than 10 minutes left now.
Looks like it will be a nice dry afternoon for the rugby at Twickenham tomorrow, just a bit chilly.
Saxons 9 – 13 Scotland A , less than 5 min left and Scotland A down to 14 men
Scotland A down to 13 men
Final score: England Saxons 9 – 13 Scotland A
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