Scotland team analysis: 28-year first, pack overhaul, no place for hammer of England

Gregor Townsend’s XV to play England features 10 from Glasgow Warriors and one each from Bath, Bristol Bears, Harlequins, Toulon and Perpignan.

With only two Scottish professional teams to select from, it is a damning indictment of the capital club that Townsend has to lean so heavily on Glasgow. Sean Everitt’s Edinburgh are languishing in 13th place in the 16-team United Rugby Championship and their only contribution to the Calcutta Cup match-day squad is the presence on the bench of Pierre Schoeman and Darcy Graham.

The make-up of the Scotland team is also a testament to the work being done by Franco Smith at Scotstoun, of course. With Glasgow sitting top of the URC and flying high in Europe it’s little wonder that Smith is favoured by many to replace Townsend as national coach.

According to rugby stats guru Kevin Millar, Scotland have played 303 consecutive Test matches with at least one Edinburgh player in the starting line-up since the game in 1998, which was also against England at Murrayfield.

No Edinburgh, no Borders

Townsend played that day but couldn’t prevent the visitors winning 34-20 en route to a triple crown. The coach noted wryly that there were also no Borders players in his starting team to play England this weekend, unlike in 1998 when Hawick, Melrose and Kelso were all represented, by Tony Stanger, Craig Chalmers and Adam Roxburgh, respectively.

Townsend had left Gala by that point to join Northampton as professionalism led to the exodus of the region’s best talent.

He tried to accentuate the positives on Thursday in the complexion of his team to play England - “it's more a reflection on Glasgow and how well they've been playing together” - but it cannot be good for competition if one of our two pro clubs is doing such heavy lifting. Edinburgh and Glasgow are the two main pipelines into the national side, after all.

Such concerns will likely be forgotten if Scotland can reclaim the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield and Townsend has picked a side which will provoke much debate.

Dobie in, Duhan out

Last weekend’s dismal defeat by Italy in the rain in Rome on the opening week has increased the pressure on Townsend who will take charge of his 100th Test match as Scotland head coach on Saturday. While he has made four changes to his pack, he has kept faith with the backline who started at the Stadio Olimpico. Part of his reasoning is that they never had the opportunity to show their true worth because of the monsoon conditions.

It means the back three of Tom Jordan, Kyle Steyn and Jamie Dobie retain their places, with Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe both overlooked and Graham named on the bench.

“As ever, we looked at every position,” said Townsend. “We feel that the reasons why we selected that back five and the bench going into Italy is the same reasons we'd do that going into England. We weren't able to play as well as a backline given the weather but what the back three did in the kick battle was excellent. How they've been training has been superb so we're backing them again this week.

“It was a difficult decision, going into the Italy game and not involving Duhan, Darcy and Blair, three quality players, but those three that got selected ahead were in really good form and we saw that in training. And then the limited chances they got in Rome, I felt they all played well.”

Kinghorn has left the camp

Kinghorn has left the Scotland camp to return to France and could play for Toulouse against Stade Francais in Paris on Sunday.

Van der Merwe was overlooked despite his extraordinary record in the Calcutta Cup. He has faced England five times, won four of them and scored seven tries, including a hat-trick in 2024 at Murrayfield and a stunning double at Twickenham in 2023.

“We've got to pick who we believe will give us the best chance of winning,” said Townsend. “Sometimes that decision is a very tough one.

“When you think of Duhan and how well he's played for the team, we made that decision a week ago and we backed Jamie Dobie. I thought Jamie played really well. He obviously picked up that injury [a head injury which forced him off after 49 minutes against Italy].

“He's been outstanding at training. So we're going with someone who we believe in the form he is right now. But we know if Duhan had the opportunity, he probably would play his best rugby. He's getting back to his best rugby. I thought his last two games for Edinburgh were excellent. He was in the mix for this weekend. He'll be in the mix again for next weekend.”

It went unsaid but van der Merwe’s vulnerability under the high ball has counted against him. With George Ford at the controls, England are likely to pepper the Scotland backfield with spiral kicks and Dobie and Steyn both rate higher in that department. Both Glasgow players lost key aerial duels in Rome but their form this season in dealing with ‘bombs’ has been very good.

That is not a description that could be attached to Scotland’s lineout last weekend and Townsend has taken steps to rectify it. Ewan Ashman has been ruled out by a neck injury but it is unlikely the Edinburgh hooker would have started after his throwing woes in Italy. George Turner will be at hooker against England, with Dave Cherry on the bench.

Grant Gilchrist is the other big casualty. The experienced lock is Scotland’s lineout leader but now drops out, with Gregor Brown taking his place. The inclusion of Jamie Ritchie ahead of the benched Matt Fagerson gives Scotland another lineout target and is reward for the former’s good form with Perpignan. Townsend feels the England game brings the abrasive best out of Ritchie.

The scrum was also a big problem against Italy and Townsend has decided to drop Pierre Schoeman and replace him with Nathan McBeth who will make his first Six Nations start. The coach felt the Glasgow loosehead did well when he came on in Rome and has backed Schoeman to make an impact as a substitute against England.

Scotland team to play England

Guinness Men’s Six Nations, Murrayfield, Saturday, 4.40pm

Scotland: 15. Tom Jordan; 14. Kyle Steyn, 13. Huw Jones, 12. Sione Tuipulotu (capt), 11. Jamie Dobie; 10. Finn Russell (vice-capt), 9. Ben White; 1. Nathan McBeth, 2. George Turner, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Gregor Brown, 5. Scott Cummings, 6. Jamie Ritchie, 7. Rory Darge (vice-capt), 8. Jack Dempsey.

Replacements: 16. Dave Cherry, 17. Pierre Schoeman, 18. Elliot Millar Mills, 19. Max Williamson, 20. Matt Fagerson, 21. George Horne, 22. Adam Hastings, 23. Darcy Graham.

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