England head coach Steve Borthwick has named a settled team for Saturday's Six Nations clash with Scotland at Murrayfield, with captain Maro Itoje returning to the starting XV. Itoje was used from the bench in the opening win over Wales after arriving late to camp, but now replaces Alex Coles in the second row.
Jamie George, who captained the side before Itoje's introduction in round one, also drops to the bench as Luke Cowan-Dickie starts at hooker. The backline remains unchanged, with Tommy Freeman and Henry Arundell retaining their places at outside centre and left wing respectively.
Fit-again Fin Smith is recalled to the bench ahead of Marcus Smith, but there is no place in the matchday 23 for Ollie Lawrence. Borthwick said: 'Playing Scotland at Murrayfield is always a fantastic occasion and a challenge we are relishing. We made a pleasing start to the championship, but we understand that we must continue to raise our standards.'
England extended their winning run to 12 matches with a 48-7 victory over Wales, but have struggled recently in Edinburgh, with Scotland winning three of the last four meetings between the sides at Murrayfield.
England XV: 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3 Joe Heyes; 4 Maro Itoje (capt.), 5 Ollie Chessum; 6 Guy Pepper, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Ben Earl; 9 Alex Mitchell, 10 George Ford; 11 Henry Arundell, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 13 Tommy Freeman, 14 Tom Roebuck; 15 Freddie Steward. Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Tom Curry, 21 Henry Pollock; 22 Ben Spencer, 23 Fin Smith.
