Preview: England v Scotland

 

Brown cut a frustrated figure from the sidelines as the Red Rose went down 9-19 at the Aviva Stadium almost two weeks ago.

 

The 29-year-old was recovering from concussion as Robbie Henshaw's second half try put the Men in Green in the driving seat for the 2015 Championship.

 

But after being recalled by Stuart Lancaster to the starting XV, Brown intends to make amends and get England back to winning ways at Twickenham.

 

"It's been good to be back out there training. It's not nice to be sitting on the sideline, watching the boys put in the hard graft," he said.

 

"We want to finish strongly, we think we let ourselves down in the performance against Ireland so we want to put that right.

 

"There's no better opponent than Scotland to put it right, there's a lot of rivalry between the two teams for the Calcutta Cup, so it will be brilliant."

 

Lancaster has made two changes with Brown and Courtney Lawes replacing Saracens duo George Kruis and Alex Goode.

 

Forwards Kieran Brookes, Geoff Parling and Tom Wood also return to the match-day squad.

 

Scotland, meanwhile, travel to Twickenham looking to end a 32-year wait for a victory over England at Rugby HQ.

 

Vern Cotter's side are still searching for their first win of the 2015 Six Nations having lost to France, Wales and Italy.

 

And their hunt for a victory at Twickenham goes all the way back to 1983 – the Scots triumphing 22-12 on that occasion thanks to tries from Roy Laidlaw and Tom Smith.

 

In order to rectify that run, Cotter has made five changes for the Calcutta Cup clash including a first 2015 Six Nations appearance for No.8 David Denton.

 

Denton replaces Johnnie Beattie, while Dougie Fife – try-scorer against France in Round One – and Matt Scott also come in.

 

In the other changes flyhalf Finn Russell starts in place of Peter Horne and experienced lock Jim Hamilton comes in for Tim Swinson.

 

And Scotland defence coach Matt Taylor admits triumphing against England would get Scotland's Six Nations back on track.

 

"It would mean so much to the players and the public to go down there and win," said Taylor.

 

"But we are under no illusions, we need to go down there and be at our best.

 

"We're heading on the right track, what we need to do is head down to Twickenham and put on a really good performance.

 

"We need to execute well, we need to have the right attitude and work-rate, and if we do those things well we'll be in a really good position.

 

"England have got some very good attacking players in their group, so defensively we are going to have to be right up there. They are a big side, if they get momentum they are hard to stop."

 

 

For England: The return of Mike Brown will give the English far more fire power from the back while the Bath trio of Anthony Watson, George Ford and in particular Jonathan Joseph have been in electric form this series. The English forwards will welcome back the athleticism that Courtney Laws brings while James Haskell will carry on with the hard-graft.

 

For Scotland: Arguably Scotland's best player, Stuart Hogg, will want to impress in this heated contest while the return of Finn Russell should give the Scots some more direction in attack. David Denton will add some physicality to the forwards while Jim Hamilton's experienced head will help the youngster keep their composure.

 

Head to head: Mike Brown against Stuart Hogg could be a clash of two very good players while on the other side of the field, the battle of the front row should go a long way in determining the momentum of this match.

 

2014: England won 20-0, Edinburgh

2013: England won 38-18, London

2012: England won 13-6, Edinburgh

2011: England won 16-12, Auckland (World Cup)

2011: England won 22-16, London, 

2010: Scotland drew 15-all, Edinburgh

2009: England won 26-12, London, 

2008: Scotland won 15-9, Edinburgh

2007: England won 42-20, London

2006: Scotland won 18-12, Edinburgh

 

Prediction: The Scots have looked an improved side since entering this competition, that being said, they did lose their easiest opportunity to pick up a win. England are still in with a shot at the title and at home, Scotland should not be more than a speed bum. England by 10+.

 

 

England: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jack Nowell, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Chris Robshaw (captain), 6 James Haskell, 5 Courtney Lawes, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Joe Marler.

Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Geoff Parling, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Billy Twelvetrees.

 

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 David Denton, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Robert Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Jim Hamilton, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.

Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Johnnie Beattie, 21 Adam Ashe, 22 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 23 Greig Tonks.

 

Date: Saturday, March 14

Venue: Twickenham, London

Kick-off: 17.00 (17.00 GMT)

Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Assistant referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Marius Mitrea (Italy)

TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)