Quartet named in England squad

By Mark Stevens
14/3/19

Exeter Chiefs trio Jack Nowell, Henry Slade and Ben Moon all return to the England starting XV for Saturday’s final Guinness Six Nations match against Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday (5pm).

Slade, Moon and Luke Cowan-Dickie – who is again named on the bench – all featured in last week’s win against Italy, while Nowell is brought back in to replace Bath winger Joe Cokanasiga.

The inclusion of the trio marks four changes head coach Eddie Jones has made to his side that beat the Italians 57-14.

As well as Nowell’s inclusion, centre Slade replaces Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors) who drops to the bench; Moon swaps with Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers) in the front row, while Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons) comes in for Brad Shields (Wasps).

Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers) will pick up his 85th cap for his country on Saturday and will become England’s most capped scrum half of all time moving ahead of Danny Care (Harlequins).

Jones said: “It is the last week of the tournament so it’s exciting. It will be a fascinating finish to the Championship with three teams that can win it and we are playing against one of our most traditional foes in Scotland for the Calcutta Cup. We have had a good preparation and the side is going to be in a great state to play against Scotland on Saturday.

“Scotland is a difficult side, they are always at you, they play with a lot of enthusiasm and effort and have got a lot of attacking strings to their bow. Finn Russell is an exceptional player at 10 and they have got some pace on the outside so we are going to have to defend really well against them.”

On Youngs’ record, Jones added: “It is a fantastic achievement, it takes a lot of dedication and hard work and something he and his family will be really proud of. I am sure he will do the shirt great justice out there on Saturday.”

England side to face Scotland

15 Elliot Daly (Wasps, 29 caps)
14 Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 32 caps)
13 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 21 caps)
12 Manu Tuilagi (Leicester Tigers, 31 caps)
11 Jonny May (Leicester Tigers, 44 caps)
10 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 69 caps, capt)
9 Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 84 caps)
1 Ben Moon (Exeter Chiefs, 7 caps)
2 Jamie George (Saracens, 36 caps)
3 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 21 caps)
4 Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 57 caps)
5 George Kruis (Saracens, 31 caps)
6 Mark Wilson (Newcastle Falcons, 12 caps)
7 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 9 caps)
8 Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 40 caps)

Replacements

16 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 10 caps)
17 Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 8 caps)
18 Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 84 caps)
19 Brad Shields (Wasps, 7 caps)
20 Nathan Hughes (Wasps, 21 caps)
21 Ben Spencer (Saracens, 2 caps)
22 George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 54 caps)
23 Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors 17 caps)