England have made one change for Saturday’s Six Nations clash with Scotland at Allianz Stadium by drafting Ollie Chessum into the forwards.
Chessum will operate alongside Maro Itoje in the second row in a direct swap for George Martin, who has been managing a knee problem and drops to the bench for the Calcutta Cup showdown.
It will be Chessum’s first start for England since last year’s Six Nations having been ruled out of the summer tour to Japan and New Zealand and the autumn series by shoulder and knee injuries.
The 24-year-old made an impact as a replacement against Ireland and France and has been rewarded with his return to the starting XV.
While lacking Martin’s heft at close quarters, Chessum brings valuable strengths such as covering a huge amount of metres, filling in gaps in defence and line speed.
Head coach Steve Borthwick has otherwise retained the same 23 that stunned France 26-25 at Twickenham in round two.
It means England will continue with Marcus Smith at full-back, giving the Harlequins playmaker another run in the unfamiliar position where he mixed good with bad against Les Bleus.
Fin Smith retains the fly-half duties after he grew into his full Test debut to finish man of the match against Fabien Galthie’s side in a coming of age performance for the 22-year-old.
“We are looking forward to what will be another challenging and exciting match against Scotland,” Borthwick said.
“The Calcutta Cup is a special fixture and we are determined to perform to our very best in front of our supporters at Allianz Stadium.”
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) February 18, 2025
England team to play Scotland in Six Nations
Forwards: 1 Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears), 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), 3 Will Stuart (Bath Rugby), 4 Maro Itoje (Captain, Saracens), 5 Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers), 6 Tom Curry (Sale Sharks), 7 Ben Earl (Saracens), 8 Tom Willis (Saracens)
Backs: 9 Alex Mitchell (Northampton Saints), 10 Fin Smith (Northampton Saints), 11 Ollie Sleightholme (Northampton Saints), 12 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs), 13 Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby), 14 Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints), 15 Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Replacements: 16 Jamie George (Saracens), 17 Fin Baxter (Harlequins), 18 Joe Heyes (Leicester Tigers), 19 George Martin (Leicester Tigers), 20 Chandler Cunningham-South (Harlequins), 21 Ben Curry (Sale Sharks), 22 Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), 23 Elliot Daly (Saracens)