England vs Scotland team news: Joe Cokanasiga dropped for Six Nations Calcutta Cup clash
Wing has been dropped just five days after being named man of the match against Italy as Eddie Jones makes four changes to his side for their final Six Nations match
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Joe Cokanasiga has been left out of the England squad to face Scotland in this Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash, despite being named man of the match in last weekend’s thrashing of Italy.
The Bath wing does not make the matchday squad as Jack Nowell returns to the starting line-up in one of four changes to the team that beat the basement side 57-14 at Twickenham.
"Joe is a good young player and we're looking after him,” Jones said after naming his side. “He'll feature in our plans for the future. Jack Nowell is our best option in the position. I don't need to rush Joe, we need to bring him through carefully
“We've got a good plan in place that will mean he's ready for the World Cup. He'll feature heavily in the warm-up games.”
Henry Slade returns to partner Manu Tuilagi at centre as Ben Te’o drops to the bench, beating Cokanasiga to a place in the side, while Ben Moon is restored at loosehead prop in place of Ellis Genge and Mark Wilson rotates with Brad Shields at blindside flanker. Both Genge and Shields take their place among the replacements.
The final change to the squad sees Ben Spencer replace Dan Robson as scrum-half cover, with the latter ruled out due to illness. But the big story remains the absence of 21-year-old Cokanasiga given how impressive he was last weekend.
“It is the last week of the tournament so it’s exciting,” Jones said. “It will be a fascinating finish to the Championship with three teams that can win it and we are playing against one of our most traditional foes in Scotland for the Calcutta Cup. We have had a good preparation and the side is going to be in a great state to play against Scotland on Saturday.
“Scotland is a difficult side, they are always at you, they play with a lot of enthusiasm and effort and have got a lot of attacking strings to their bow. Finn Russell is an exceptional player at 10 and they have got some pace on the outside so we are going to have to defend really well against them.”
In selecting Youngs as starting scrum-half, Jones makes the Leicester Tigers half-back England’s most-capped No 9, with his tally of 85 appearances taking him ahead of Harlequins rival Danny Care.
“It is a fantastic achievement, it takes a lot of dedication and hard work and something he and his family will be really proud of.” Jones added. “I am sure he will do the shirt great justice out there on Saturday.”
England head into the weekend’s finale knowing that they still have a chance of reclaiming the championship from Ireland, but they need a favour from Joe Schmidt’s side in that the defending champions must stop Wales from winning in Cardiff to give Jones’ side a chance.
If Wales fail to secure the Grand Slam, England can surpass Warren Gatland’s side providing they beat Scotland in the final match of Grand Slam Saturday, while maintain their slim advantage over Ireland. But if Wales record a fifth consecutive victory, there will be no celebrations for England and the Twickenham encounter will effectively become a dead rubber beyond Calcutta Cup bragging rights.
Wales’ 21-13 victory over England last month has put them in the box seat to win a first Six Nations title since 2013, as well as a first clean sweep since their 2012 Grand Slam, and should they go on to beat Ireland it will ensure that Gatland goes down in history as the first coach to secure three Six Nations Grand Slams.
It will also be Gatland’s final Six Nations match as he prepares to leave Wales, and similarly, Jones could also be taking charge of England
England team to face Scotland:
Elliot Daly; Jack Nowell, Henry Slade, Manu Tuilagi, Jonny May; Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Ben Moon, Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler; Joe Launchbury, George Kruis; Mark Wilson, Tom Curry, Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Ellis Genge, Harry Williams, Brad Shields, Nathan Hughes, Ben Spencer, George Ford, Ben Te’o.
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