Scotland ring changes in bid to end Twickenham victory jinx
SCOTLAND head coach Vern Cotter has shuffled his pack and made five changes to his starting XV ahead of tomorrow’s Six Nations tussle with England at Twickenham.
Back-row David Denton, centre Matt Scott, winger Dougie Fife and lock Jim Hamilton have been drafted in, while fly-half Finn Russell returns having missed Scotland’s last match through suspension.
Scotland have not won at Twickenham since the 1983 championship and still await their first victory of this season’s tournament after losing narrowly to France, Wales and Italy.
“This is a very important game. It will be played away from home at a very intense level and will allow us to assess further our ability to operate away from home in a hostile environment,” said New Zealander Cotter.
“Our focus, however, has been on ourselves and how we can perform better, by identifying areas that we can control, like improving our skill-sets and reinforcing cohesion, to withstand the difficult time and also apply some pressure.”
Scotland centre Alex Dunbar, meanwhile, is in danger of missing the World Cup later this year after rupturing knee ligaments in a training ground accident yesterday.