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Vunipola brothers on England bench for Scotland clash
By Christopher Devine
Billy Vunipola is set to make his international comeback from the bench when England seek to make history with a Six Nations victory over Scotland on Saturday.
The influential back-row forward returned to action for Saracens last week, having recovered from knee surgery ahead of schedule, and had been tipped to make a swift return to England's starting line-up this weekend.
However, Vunipola has been named among the replacements along with brother Mako, as Nathan Hughes retains the number eight jersey.
Victory over Scotland would put England one step away from a second successive Grand Slam triumph and ensure Eddie Jones' men equal New Zealand's record of 18 successive Test wins by a tier-one nation.
Jones has made three changes to his team - Jonathan Joseph, Jack Nowell and Ben Youngs all returning after dropping out of the starting XV for the win over Italy.
Bath centre Anthony Watson joins Billy Vunipola in being named in the matchday 23 for the first time in the tournament, following his return to fitness.
Although Dylan Hartley is again retained as captain, Joe Marler will lead England out of the tunnel at Twickenham to mark his 50th cap.
BREAKING | Your England team to face Scotland on Saturday in the RBS 6 Nations
https://t.co/mggbLb8Ob6 pic.twitter.com/V7CtbcXVKP
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 9, 2017
England: Mike Brown, Jack Nowell, Jonathan Joseph, Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, George Ford, Ben Youngs; Joe Marler, Dylan Hartley (captain), Dan Cole, Joe Launchbury, Courtney Lawes, Maro Itoje, James Haskell, Nathan Hughes.
Replacements: Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler, Tom Wood, Billy Vunipola, Danny Care, Ben Te'o, Anthony Watson.
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Latest Comments
How about a SH type of Champions Cup? I'm not going to repeat the whole response here, but did write what I think would be good. Not only for NZ, but all of the SH. I would however love to hear your thoughts on such a competition
Go to commentsCan’t really complain about those scores. Individually, too many were off their best and went missing in big, match defining moments. Collectively, the team often looked muddled and lacked cool-headed, leadership especially in the final quarter of games. This was further compounded by a quality drop-off from the bench.
Calls for Borthwick’s dismissal have grown increasingly louder with each passing game as he has been shown to be tactically and selectively subpar. His position is now in the balance and I don’t believe he’ll be kept on unless England fix their defensive issues and beat at least one of Ireland, France or Scotland in the 6Ns, which on the latest showing looks increasingly unlikely.
Couple of returning players in Chessum and Mitchell coupled with a stronger bench, might give England fans a few reasons to remain optimistic.
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