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Scotland make four changes for England clash

Matt McGeehan,Pa
Wednesday 09 March 2011 11:39 GMT
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Scotland have made four changes for this Sunday's Calcutta Cup clash with England at Twickenham.

Scotland will look for a first win of the 2011 RBS 6 Nations and a first victory in west London since 1983 against Grand Slam-chasing England this weekend with wing Simon Danielli, centre Joe Ansbro and scrum-half Rory Lawson named to start alongside Nathan Hines, who comes in at blindside flanker with Kelly Brown switching to number eight.

Mike Blair and Nick De Luca are named on the bench, with Nikki Walker and Johnnie Beattie omitted from the matchday 22 altogether following the 21-18 loss to Ireland.

Alasdair Strokosch has also been named among the substitutes, having been absent since last June's Test series win in Argentina.

Ruaridh Jackson is retained at fly-half, having made his first start against Ireland, while Sean Lamont continues at inside centre.

Danielli will make his first start of the championship, while Ansbro has recovered from concussion to return to the first XV.

This weekend's match marks the 100th anniversary of Scotland's first trip to Twickenham, but in 44 matches they have won just four times.

Scotland head coach Andy Robinson, who has occupied the same role with England, said: "The record books show what a special achievement it would be for the Scotland team to win on Sunday.

"That is our intention and we firmly believe that if we can deliver a sustained, intelligent and ruthless performance then we can achieve our first win of this season's championship.

"England have played some good rugby in this championship but Sunday is about our performance.

"Simon Danielli and Rory Lawson have both been playing well for their clubs and Joe Ansbro was unfortunate to miss the game against Ireland through injury, while Nathan Hines' experience will be an asset for us in our back-row."

Scotland team to play England at Twickenham on Sunday, March 13 (kick-off 3pm):

C Paterson (Edinburgh); S Danielli (Ulster), J Ansbro (Northampton), S Lamont (Scarlets) M Evans (Glasgow Warriors); R Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), R Lawson (Gloucester); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), M Low (Glasgow Warriors), R Gray (Glasgow Warriors), A Kellock (Glasgow Warriors, captain), N Hines (Leinster), J Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), K Brown (Saracens).

Replacements: S Lawson (Gloucester), G Cross (Edinburgh), R Vernon (Glasgow Warriors), A Strokosch (Gloucester), M Blair (Edinburgh), D Parks (Cardiff Blues), N De Luca (Edinburgh).

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