Scotland make three changes for England Six Nations clash as Finn Russell and Darcy Graham decisions explained

The pair clashed heads after colliding in the first half of the defeat by Ireland at Murrayfield in round two of the Guinness Six Nations. Both players had to go off, with Graham taken to hospital after receiving treatment on the pitch for several minutes.

Both players suffered concussions but were said to be “in the running” to face England this weekend. Gregor Townsend named his team on Thursday and while Russell will co-captain the side alongside Rory Darge, there is no place for Graham.

"They've both been training really well, they've come through their [head injury return to play] protocols at every stage," explained head coach Townsend. "Finn we felt was symptom-free much earlier, because he didn't have as big a head knock as Darcy did. Darcy is progressing really well, he's had no symptoms now for a few days, and is onto the next stage of his training, but we just felt that this week was too early to do full contact, so we've given him that extra week to recover."

The right winger’s place is taken by Glasgow Warriors’ Kyle Rowe, one of three changes made by head coach Townsend to his starting side. The other alterations are in the pack where Pierre Schoeman returns in place of Rory Sutherland at loosehead prop and Jamie Ritchie takes the place of Matt Fagerson in the back row. Sutherland and Matt Fagerson are on the bench.

Having opened with a home win over Italy and then gone down 32-18 to Ireland in Edinburgh, Scotland need a win over England to keep alive any realistic title chances.

They are going for an unprecedented fifth win in a row over their ancient rivals and their chances are significantly boosted by the availability of Russell who has been hugely influential in the run of victories over England.

Russell, Ritchie and Duhan van der Merwe have started all four of the Calcutta Cup wins since 2021. Ritchie captained Scotland to victory in their last win at Twickenham, in 2023, and said this week that it was a fixture he relished.

“I can't speak on behalf of the English lads, but it certainly means a lot to us,” said Ritchie. “Whether it means more or less, I don't know. I guess it's kind of how you want to motivate yourself.

“But for us, we want to beat England just as much as we want to beat any other team in the Six Nations but, yeah, this one has a special place in our hearts. I don't know, maybe it does mean more to us, maybe that's why we've won in the last couple of years.”

Scotland have once again gone with a six-two split of forwards and backs on the bench.

Scotland team to play England, Guinness Men’s Six Nations, Allianz Stadium, 4.45pm

(caps in brackets):

15. Blair Kinghorn – Toulouse (57)

14. Kyle Rowe – Glasgow Warriors (10)

13. Huw Jones – Glasgow Warriors (55)

12. Tom Jordan – Glasgow Warriors (5)

11. Duhan van der Merwe – Edinburgh Rugby (46)

10. Finn Russell – Co-Captain – Bath Rugby (84)

9. Ben White – Toulon (26)

1. Pierre Schoeman – Edinburgh Rugby (39)

2. Dave Cherry – Edinburgh Rugby (13)

3. Zander Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (72)

4. Jonny Gray – Bordeaux Bègles (79)

5. Grant Gilchrist – Edinburgh Rugby (77)

6. Jamie Ritchie – Edinburgh Rugby (56)

7. Rory Darge – Co-Captain – Glasgow Warriors (27)

8. Jack Dempsey – Glasgow Warriors (24)

Replacements

16. Ewan Ashman – Edinburgh Rugby (24)

17. Rory Sutherland – Glasgow Warriors (39)

18. Will Hurd – Leicester Tigers (6)

19. Sam Skinner – Edinburgh Rugby (36)

20. Gregor Brown – Glasgow Warriors (6)

21. Matt Fagerson – Glasgow Warriors (52)

22. Jamie Dobie – Glasgow Warriors (10)

23. Stafford McDowall – Glasgow Warriors (10)