Ollie Chessum will make his first start of this year’s Six Nations for England against Scotland on Saturday at Twickenham (kick-off 4.45pm) after Steve Borthwick opted to give him the nod in the secondrow ahead of George Martin, who moves to the bench.
It is the only change to the side that beat France in round two, but with the English lineout struggling with captain Maro Itoje as the only real target, Chessum offers another option.
Chessum has struggled with injuries over the past year, a shoulder surgery ruling him out of England’s tour of New Zealand and Japan last summer before a knee injury sidelined him for the autumn internationals. An ankle injury kept him out of this season’s Six Nations opener against Ireland, but he recovered to make the bench against France, making a notable impact when he came on.
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England will hope to pick up where they left off against France, going into the oldest international fixture in the sport on the back of a dire run. Scotland have won the last four meetings between the sides, with England mustering only a single victory in the last seven.
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Despite that, Borthwick’s side are heavy favourites to stop the rot on Saturday after ending their seven-game losing run against Tier One nations with their last-gasp victory over France, while Scotland were overwhelmed by Ireland in Dublin.
The result against Fabien Galthié’s men has put England back into contention, but they will almost certainly need France to beat Ireland away in round four to keep their title hopes alive, as well as winning their own remaining games, facing and then Wales in the final two rounds.
Ireland lead the standings with 10 points, France and England each have six, and Scotland sit fourth on five points.
Scotland are due to name their team to face England on Thursday.
ENGLAND (v Scotland): Marcus Smith; Tommy Freeman, Ollie Lawrence, Henry Slad, Ollie Sleightholme; Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Will Stuart; Maro Itoje (capt), Ollie Chessum; Tom Curry, Ben Earl, Tom Willis.
Replacements: Jamie George, Fin Baxter, Joe Heyes, George Martin, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ben Curry, Harry Randall, Elliot Daly.
