England Makes Big Call To Drop Fullback Steward For Six Nations Match At Scotland – News18

EDINBURGH, Scotland: England rolled the dice in a bid to reclaim the Calcutta Cup after three straight losses to old foe Scotland by dropping Freddie Steward in favor of George Furbank at fullback for Saturday’s Six Nations match at Murrayfield.

Steward has been virtually an ever-present under successive England regimes mainly because of his unrivalled ability under the high ball, yet he was jettisoned from the matchday 23 completely on Thursday after starting the opening two rounds.

With dry conditions expected in Edinburgh, Furbank was included instead with the thinking that he will provide more of a cutting edge in attack with the ball in hand. Still, it is a gamble because Furbank, who also can operate at flyhalf, has yet to convince in his six caps dating to 2020.

The decision at No. 15 is influenced by the return from injury of inside center Ollie Lawrence, who offers England a heavy-duty ball-carrier capable of breaking tackles and drawing in defenders.

Furbank and Lawrence are two of five changes made by England coach Steve Borthwick, with Ellis Genge and Dan Cole coming into the front row in a rotation of the props and Danny Care promoted from the bench as a replacement for the injured Alex Mitchell.

George Martin was named on the bench ahead of what would be his first appearance since starring in the Rugby World Cup semifinal loss to South Africa in October. He has been out with a knee injury.

England has two wins from two, like Ireland, but faces its toughest test against Scotland, which also has a changed fullback as Blair Kinghorn returns from a knee injury.

Kinghorn replaces Harry Paterson while former captain Jamie Ritchie, who was dropped from the squad for the loss to France in Round 2, is back at blindside flanker as Matt Fagerson drops out.

Kyle Steyn was picked on the right wing ahead of Kyle Rowe.

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Lineups:

Scotland: Blair Kinghorn, Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Finn Russell (co-captain), Ben White; Jack Dempsey, Rory Darge (co-captain), Jamie Ritchie, Scott Cummings, Grant Gilchrist, Zander Fagerson, George Turner, Pierre Schoeman. Reserves: Ewan Ashman, Alec Hepburn, Elliot Millar-Mills, Sam Skinner, Andy Christie, George Horne, Ben Healy, Cameron Redpath.

England: George Furbank, Tommy Freeman, Henry Slade, Ollie Lawrence, Elliot Daly, George Ford, Danny Care; Ben Earl, Sam Underhill, Ethan Roots, Ollie Chessum, Maro Itoje, Dan Cole, Jamie George (captain), Ellis Genge. Reserves: Theo Dan, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, George Martin, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ben Spencer, Fin Smith, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)