3 Feb 2023 | 5 min |

Preview: England v Scotland

Everything you need to know ahead of England's Calcutta Cup meet with Scotland in round one of the 2023 Guinness Six Nations.

Owen Farrell will captain the side and is joined in the midfield by Joe Marchant. Jack van Poortvliet starts at scrum half, with Marcus Smith at fly half. Ollie Hassell-Collins is set to make his England debut on the wing, with Max Malins (right wing) and Freddie Steward (full back) completing the back three.

When?	Saturday 4 February
Where?	Twickenham Stadium
Kick off?	16:45

Vice captain Ellis Genge is joined in the front row by Jamie George and Kyle Sinckler. Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum form the second row pairing, Lewis Ludlam and Ben Curry are the flankers, and Alex Dombrandt packs down at Number 8.

Jack Walker is set to make his England debut from the bench. The former England U20 captain is named as a front row replacement alongside Mako Vunipola and returning tight head Dan Cole. Nick Isiekwe, Ben Earl, Ben Youngs, Ollie Lawrence and Anthony Watson are also named as in the match day 23.

VIEWS FROM CAMP

Steve Borthwick: "There are very few fixtures in the rugby calendar that excite players and supporters alike more than the annual fixture between England and Scotland in the Six Nations Championship, where both teams battle it out for the honour of lifting Calcutta Cup.

"The England team that will play this weekend against Scotland has great experience, exciting young talent and new combinations that will compliment the experience. All the players are determined to represent their country with pride, commitment and a fight that our supporters rightly deserve and expect.

"We have players who have played international rugby and then been out of it for some time, and they've been wanting to get back in. That's the sense I've got from them, that they're desperate to go and play well for England, desperate to get out there at Twickenham this weekend in front of our supporters and hear that crowd cheering them."

Ellis Genge: "The Six Nations has definitely got a different feel to it, and I think I've appreciated it more as I've got older. You understand how special the Six Nations is for everyone involved. Being able to go away and play in Ireland, to play in France last year, it really hits home how impressive this competition is and it's something we need to look after.

Maro Itoje: "There's a really good feeling around this squad. We're really clear about how we want to play and how we want to go about our business. Whenever we play for England we want to put our best foot forward, and this is an opportunity to create a new chapter of English rugby. We're all looking forward to Saturday against Scotland.

"We're fully aware of our recent record, and as a team we want to rectify that. We know Scotland are a very good side, they play some very good rugby and have some very talented players. But we back ourselves to get the win on Saturday."

PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS

2022: Scotland 20-17 England

2021: England 6-11 Scotland

2020: Scotland 6-13 England

2019: England 38-38 Scotland

2018: Scotland 25-13 England

STATS

England’s Marcus Smith was the top points-scorer in last year’s Guinness Six Nations, with 71 points.

Maro Itoje hit the most rucks of any player in the Guinness Six Nations last year (152).

Each of England's last two losses against Scotland have come by margins of just five points or fewer.

Scotland (82.4%) and England (81.5%) had the best place-kicking success rates in last year’s Guinness Six Nations.

TEAMS

England

Starting

15. Freddie Steward, 14. Max Malins, 13. Joe Marchant, 12. Owen Farrell (C), 11. Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Jack van Poortvliet, 1. Ellis Genge (VC), 2. Jamie George, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. Maro Itoje, 5. Ollie Chessum, 6. Lewis Ludlam, 7. Ben Curry, 8. Alex Dombrandt

Replacements

16. Jack Walker, 17. Mako Vunipola, 18. Dan Cole, 19. Nick Isiekwe, 20. Ben Earl, 21. Ben Youngs, 22. Ollie Lawrence, 23. Anthony Watson

Scotland

15. Stuart Hogg, 14. Kyle Steyn, 13. Huw Jones, 12. Sione Tuipulotu, 11. Duhan van der Merwe, 10. Finn Russell, 9. Ben White, 1. Pierre Schoeman, 2. George Turner, 3. WP Nel, 4. Richie Gray, 5. Grant Gilchrist, 6. Jamie Ritchie (C), 7. Luke Crosbie, 8. Matt Fagerson