HENRY POLLOCK WAS once more left among the replacements as England coach Steve Borthwick named an unchanged starting team for Saturday’s Nations Championship clash against Argentina in Santiago del Estero.
Northampton back-row Pollock came off the bench to score a hat-trick of tries in just 32 minutes during last week’s 73-8 rout of Fiji in Liverpool.
But even that display was not enough to persuade Borthwick to start Pollock in place of Ben Earl at No 8 despite several former England internationals, including Jeremy Guscott, calling for the 21-year-old to be included in the run-on 15 to play the Pumas.
Borthwick has also retained the midfield combination of Seb Atkinson and Henry Slade, with Benhard Janse van Rensburg continuing on the bench having made his debut last week.
The only changes to England’s matchday 23 are on the bench where scrum-half Ben Spencer comes in for Alex Mitchell, ruled out with a hamstring injury, and Emmanuel Iyogun is preferred ahead of George Kloska.
Stafford McDowell will captain a Scotland side showing a mammoth 14 changes in Saturday’s Nations Championship international against Fiji at Murrayfield.
Stafford McDowell in action against USA last year (file photo). Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Only Gregor Brown has retained his starting place following last weekend’s 42-28 defeat by world champions South Africa in Pretoria and he has been switched by coach Gregor Townsend from the second row to No 8.
Back-row Freddy Douglas and hooker Gregor Hiddleston are both set to make their first Test starts for what is technically a Fiji ‘home’ game’, with the Pacific Islanders playing all their three fixtures in the July leg of the inaugural Nations Championship in Britain for financial reasons.
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Fiji suffered a humiliating 73-8 loss to England in Liverpool last week and they could face another tough afternoon in Edinburgh, with Scotland recalling Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe, their two all-time leading try-scorers, on the wings.
Seb Stephen is poised for a Scotland debut off a bench featuring several seasoned campaigners, including regular captain Sione Tuipulotu and Pierre Schoeman.
England
15. Marcus Smith
14. Tommy Freeman
13. Henry Slade
12. Seb Atkinson
11. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso
10. Fin Smith
9. Jack van Poortvliet
1. Ellis Genge
2. Jamie George
3. Joe Heyes
4. Alex Coles
5. George Martin
6. Ollie Chessum
7. Guy Pepper
8. Ben Earl
Replacements:
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie
17. Emmanuel Iyogun
18. Asher Opoku-Fordjour
19. Tom Curry
20. Henry Pollock
21. Ben Spencer
22. Benhard Janse van Rensburg
23. Noah Caluori
*****
Scotland
15. Tom Jordan
14. Darcy Graham
13. Ollie Smith
12. Stafford McDowall (captain)
11. Duhan van der Merwe
10. Fergus Burke
9. George Horne
1. Rory Sutherland
2. Gregor Hiddleston
3. D’arcy Rae
4. Jonny Gray
5. Max Williamson
6. Josh Bayliss
7. Freddy Douglas
8. Gregor Brown
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No start for Pollock for England, McDowell to lead much-changed Scotland
HENRY POLLOCK WAS once more left among the replacements as England coach Steve Borthwick named an unchanged starting team for Saturday’s Nations Championship clash against Argentina in Santiago del Estero.
Northampton back-row Pollock came off the bench to score a hat-trick of tries in just 32 minutes during last week’s 73-8 rout of Fiji in Liverpool.
But even that display was not enough to persuade Borthwick to start Pollock in place of Ben Earl at No 8 despite several former England internationals, including Jeremy Guscott, calling for the 21-year-old to be included in the run-on 15 to play the Pumas.
Borthwick has also retained the midfield combination of Seb Atkinson and Henry Slade, with Benhard Janse van Rensburg continuing on the bench having made his debut last week.
The only changes to England’s matchday 23 are on the bench where scrum-half Ben Spencer comes in for Alex Mitchell, ruled out with a hamstring injury, and Emmanuel Iyogun is preferred ahead of George Kloska.
Stafford McDowell will captain a Scotland side showing a mammoth 14 changes in Saturday’s Nations Championship international against Fiji at Murrayfield.
Only Gregor Brown has retained his starting place following last weekend’s 42-28 defeat by world champions South Africa in Pretoria and he has been switched by coach Gregor Townsend from the second row to No 8.
Back-row Freddy Douglas and hooker Gregor Hiddleston are both set to make their first Test starts for what is technically a Fiji ‘home’ game’, with the Pacific Islanders playing all their three fixtures in the July leg of the inaugural Nations Championship in Britain for financial reasons.
Fiji suffered a humiliating 73-8 loss to England in Liverpool last week and they could face another tough afternoon in Edinburgh, with Scotland recalling Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe, their two all-time leading try-scorers, on the wings.
Seb Stephen is poised for a Scotland debut off a bench featuring several seasoned campaigners, including regular captain Sione Tuipulotu and Pierre Schoeman.
England
15. Marcus Smith
14. Tommy Freeman
13. Henry Slade
12. Seb Atkinson
11. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso
10. Fin Smith
9. Jack van Poortvliet
1. Ellis Genge
2. Jamie George
3. Joe Heyes
4. Alex Coles
5. George Martin
6. Ollie Chessum
7. Guy Pepper
8. Ben Earl
Replacements:
*****
Scotland
15. Tom Jordan
14. Darcy Graham
13. Ollie Smith
12. Stafford McDowall (captain)
11. Duhan van der Merwe
10. Fergus Burke
9. George Horne
1. Rory Sutherland
2. Gregor Hiddleston
3. D’arcy Rae
4. Jonny Gray
5. Max Williamson
6. Josh Bayliss
7. Freddy Douglas
8. Gregor Brown
Replacements:
– © AFP 2026
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