VETERAN SCRUM-HALF Danny Care and centre Ollie Lawrence were named in the starting team as England coach Steve Borthwick made five changes for Saturday’s Six Nations match away to Scotland.
Lawrence returns to bolster the midfield at the expense of Fraser Dingwall, with Care set to win his 99th cap after Northampton scrum-half Alex Mitchell was ruled out of the Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield with a knee injury.
There is no place in the matchday 23 for Freddie Steward, with Borthwick opting for George Furbank at full-back instead.
Up front, props Ellis Genge and Dan Cole will pack down either side of England captain and hooker Jamie George in Edinburgh.
England, one of only two unbeaten teams in the Championship along with title-holders Ireland, are looking to make it three wins out of three after defeating Italy (27-24) and Wales (16-14) in the opening two rounds of the Six Nations.
But they have lost their past three matches against oldest rivals Scotland, who named their team earlier on Thursday.
Blair Kinghorn has been recalled as one of three changes to Scotland’s side.
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend has also selected Kyle Steyn and former captain Jamie Ritchie in his starting XV following an agonising 20-16 loss to France in the second round.
Kyle Rowe, Harry Paterson and Matt Fagerson — who all started against Les Bleus — have been dropped from the matchday 23 entirely, with the bench unchanged.
Full-back Kinghorn missed the opening two matches of the Six Nations through injury, while wing Steyn was a late dropout against France after his wife went into labour.
Blindside flanker Ritchie returns to the back row after starting in Scotland’s dramatic 27-26 first-round victory over Wales in Cardiff.
England (15-1)
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 (capt), Ellis Genge
Replacements: Theo Dan, Joe Marler, Will Stuart, George Martin, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ben Spencer, Fin Smith, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso
Scotland (15-1)
Blair Kinghorn; Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe; Finn Russell (co-capt), Ben White; Jack Dempsey, Rory Darge (co-capt), Jamie Ritchie; Scott Cummings, Grant Gilchrist; Zander Fagerson, George Turner, Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Alec Hepburn, Elliot Millar-Mills, Sam Skinner, Andy Christie, George Horne, Ben Healy, Cameron Redpath.
