Six Nations: Billy Twelvetrees to make England debut v Scotland
Last updated on .From the section Rugby Union
Gloucester centre Billy Twelvetrees will make his England debut in Saturday's Six Nations match against Scotland at Twickenham.
Twelvetrees, 24, replaces Manu Tuilagi and forms a midfield partnership with Brad Barritt of Saracens.
The only other change from the starting XV that beat New Zealand 38-21 in December is Joe Marler in for Alex Corbisiero at loose-head prop.
Tom Youngs retains his place at hooker ahead of Dylan Hartley.
Leicester's Youngs, who wins his fifth cap, replaced Northampton's injured Hartley for the autumn internationals, which culminated in England's stunning defeat of the world champions.
Hartley, fly-half Toby Flood and winger David Strettle come on to the replacements' bench for David Paice, Freddie Burns and Jonathan Joseph respectively.
Twelvetrees is not a like-for-like replacement for Tuilagi but he has a more rounded game than the Leicester man, offering a kicking game and a presence as a second playmaker outside Owen Farrell.
"We are happy to stick with the team that did so well against New Zealand, especially in light of the fact that they have all been in good form for their clubs since then," said England head coach Stuart Lancaster.
"There were some very tight calls, with some experienced players coming back into contention, and I am sure the bench will have a significant impact on the game.
"We can't wait to get back to Twickenham and hopefully experience the same atmosphere as the autumn when the crowd was superb.
"It means a lot to the players to have such support in the ground and watching on television."
Twelvetrees joined the Leicester academy in 2007 and made his first appearance for the Tigers in 2009, scoring a try in a 14-point haul.
He was called up by the England Saxons in 2011 and moved to Gloucester at the end of last season.
Scotland are seeking their first victory at Twickenham since 1983.
England team: Alex Goode (Saracens), Chris Ashton (Saracens), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester), Mike Brown (Harlequins); Owen Farrell (Saracens), Ben Youngs (Leicester); Joe Marler (Harlequins), Tom Youngs (Leicester), Dan Cole (Leicester), Joe Launchbury (London Wasps), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Tom Wood (Northampton), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), Ben Morgan (Gloucester)
Replacements: Dylan Hartley (Northampton), David Wilson (Bath), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Courtney Lawes (Northampton), James Haskell (London Wasps), Danny Care (Harlequins), Toby Flood (Leicester Tigers), David Strettle (Saracens)
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Also good to see Tom Youngs get ahead of Hartley
Oliver, when Goode steps in at 10 it will be good to have Twelvetrees outside of him. It is a defensive headache for Scotland. If Flood and TT live up either side of a central scrum with Goode behind it the ball could go either way and still be run! England are looking beyond just a crash ball game!
The backs have quality, good deffense but lacking a little pace for me. can't see us scoring from 50 yards out but then again since we rarely do, why play sprinters.
I just don't think Foden did anything to deserve being ommited.
Should be a cracker on Saturday....could be a close run thing as well.
I'm lucky enough to have tickets for England v Italy on March 10th :-)
It's different because England actually develop the foreign born players in our side ie Hartley, Manu. Only Botha and Barritt are the only contentious ones. And Botha didn't become professional until he came here and wasn't capped until 4 years after the residency period was complete.
Scotland have capped a guy straight out of the Super XV. That my friend, is poaching.
Maybe Telfer wasn't so off the mark after all.
Do you know, not many of the Scottish posts have said anything degrading towards the English.
O well, I guess it's no wonder nobody likes you.
- The English team don't have many caps between them
- Big time lacking in experience