Curry leads new-look England against Scotland
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Tom Curry will captain England in their Six Nations opener away to Scotland on Saturday after Eddie Jones’ first two choices as skipper were ruled out through injury.
England had hoped Owen Farrell would recover in time for the Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield but the flyhalf/centre has been ruled out of the entire tournament with an ankle injury.
Courtney Lawes, the stand-in skipper for wins over Tonga and world champions South Africa in November, is also unavailable as the forward is still getting over a head knock suffered while playing for club side Northampton.
“Tom Curry will captain the side for this game and has the respect of the team around him, in Owen and Courtney’s absence,” said England coach Jones.
“He also has the support of the vice captains and other leaders in the team such as Maro Itoje and Ben Youngs.”
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Max Malins, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Henry Slade, 11 Joe Marchant, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Tom Curry (captain), 6 Lewis Ludlam, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ellis Genge.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Alex Dombrandt, 21 Harry Randall, 22 George Ford, 23 Jack Nowell.
Date: Saturday, February 5
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 16.45 (16.45 GMT)
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Nic Berry (Australia), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)
Additional source: AFP
