LONDON : Lock Ollie Chessum will make his first start of this year’s Six Nations against Scotland on Saturday after coach Steve Borthwick opted for his lineout skills over the bulk of George Martin, who moves to the bench, in his team named on Tuesday.
Borthwick has kept faith with the 23 who beat France last week but, with the lineout struggling with Maro Itoje as the only real target, Chessum gives another outlet.
Chessum is a superb all-round player, but has had terrible luck with injuries over the last year. Shoulder surgery ruled him out of England’s summer tour of New Zealand and Japan, then a knee injury meant he missed all four November internationals.
An ankle injury kept him out of this year’s Six Nations opener against Ireland, but he recovered to make the bench against France and made a notable impact when he came on.
England will hope to pick up where they left off in that match as they go into the oldest international fixture in the sport on the back of a dire run. Scotland have won the last four in a row, with England mustering only a single victory in the last seven, alongside the extraordinary 38-all draw in 2019.
Despite that, they are heavy bookmakers’ favourites to stop the rot on Saturday (1645GMT) after ending their seven-game losing run against Tier One nations with the last-gasp victory over France, as Scotland were overwhelmed by Ireland.
That, despite losing their opening game in Dublin, has put England right back in the mix to win their first title since 2020.
They will almost certainly need France to upset Ireland away in week four for that to become a possibility, but with another home game against Italy then a final day visit to Wales to come, Borthwick’s team having a fighting chance.
Ireland, who face Wales on Saturday, lead the standings with 10 points from two bonus-point wins. France and England each have six, with Scotland on five.
Scotland are due to name their team on Thursday, with the big question being whether star backs Finn Russell and Darcy Graham will be cleared to play after both going off early in the Ireland defeat after their clash of heads.
England team to play Scotland on Saturday (1645GMT)
15. Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 41 caps)
14. Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints, 17 caps)
13. Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 33 caps)
12. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 71 caps)
11. Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints, 6 caps)
10. Fin Smith (Northampton Saints, 8 caps)
9. Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints, 20 caps)
1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 68 caps) – vice-captain
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks, 46 caps)
3. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 47 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 90 caps) – captain
5. Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 25 caps)
6. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 58 caps)
7. Ben Earl (Saracens, 39 caps)
8. Tom Willis (Saracens, 3 caps)
Replacements:
16. Jamie George (Saracens, 98 caps) – vice-captain
17. Fin Baxter (Harlequins, 7 caps)
18. Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers, 9 caps)
19. George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 21 caps)
20. Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins, 12 caps)
21. Ben Curry (Sale Sharks, 8 caps)
22. Harry Randall (Bristol Bears, 12 caps)
23. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 70 caps)
