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Six Nations 2014: No change for England as Stuart Lancaster sticks with the same starting XV for Scotland clash that suffered loss to France

Jonny May and Courtney Lawes are fit to retain their place while Lancaster gives last weeks debutants Jack Nowell and Luther Burrell another chance to impress

Duncan Bech
Thursday 06 February 2014 10:36 GMT
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Flex Luther: Luther Burrell muscles his way through the French defence en route to his try
Flex Luther: Luther Burrell muscles his way through the French defence en route to his try

England have named an unchanged starting XV and bench for Saturday's RBS 6 Nations clash with Scotland at Murrayfield.

Having announced on Tuesday that he would keep faith with the 23 that slipped to a late 26-24 defeat by France, head coach Stuart Lancaster has also opted to retain the same line-up.

"It's good to be able to select the same players and they are all determined to put last week's result behind them and build on the performance," Lancaster said.

"Scotland will be hugely motivated by their defeat in Dublin and, as we found two years ago, Murrayfield is a tough place to play."

The only outstanding concerns from the championship opener in Paris were the injuries sustained by lock Courtney Lawes and wing Jonny May.

However, Lawes' cheekbone damage was revealed to be only bruising and he was cleared to play in Edinburgh the following day and May was passed fit 24 hours later despite having incurred a fractured nose.

May, who lasted just nine minutes at the Stade de France, continues on the left wing and will win his third cap, while centre Luther Burrell and right wing Jack Nowell make their second Test appearances.

Burrell crossed on his debut and alongside fellow international newcomer Nowell grew in stature as a chaotic but compelling match unfolded in Paris.

Lancaster has retained half-backs Danny Care and Owen Farrell following their impressive night in Paris and the pack, superb once again, remains intact with openside Chris Robshaw at the helm.

Wasps prop Matt Mullan will travel to Edinburgh as the 24th man.

England are hoping to avoid a third successive Test defeat when they face Scotland having lost to France and 30-22 to New Zealand in the autumn.

In both defeats they overcame imposing early deficits only to fall short with stirring fightbacks founded on character.

But they depart for Edinburgh on Thursday night knowing that another loss would end any chance of supplanting Wales as Six Nations champions.

Scotland have not prevailed in the fixture since winning 15-9 at Murrayfield in 2008, although the rivals fought out a 15-15 draw at the same venue four years ago.

Lancaster's reign opened with a dour 13-6 victory against Scotland in 2012.

England squad to face Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday:

Starting line-up: M Brown (Harlequins); J Nowell (Exeter), L Burrell (Northampton), B Twelvetrees (Gloucester), J May (Gloucester); O Farrell (Saracens), D Care (Harlequins); J Marler (Harlequins), D Hartley (Northampton), D Cole (Leicester), J Launchbury (Wasps), C Lawes (Northampton), T Wood (Northampton), C Robshaw (Harlequins), B Vunipola (Saracens).

Replacements: T Youngs (Leicester), M Vunipola (Saracens), H Thomas (Sale), D Attwood (Bath), B Morgan (Gloucester), L Dickson (Northampton), B Barritt (Saracens), A Goode (Saracens).

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