England makes big call to drop fullback Steward for Six Nations match at Scotland
England rolled the dice in a bid to reclaim the Calcutta Cup after three straight losses to old foe Scotland by dropping Freddie Steward in favor of George Fur‐ bank at fullback for Saturday's Six Nations match at Murray‐ field.
Steward has been virtually an ever‐present under successive England regimes mainly because of his unrivalled ability under the high ball, yet he was jettisoned from the matchday 23 com‐ pletely on Thursday after start‐ ing the opening two rounds.
With dry conditions expected in Edinburgh, Furbank was in‐ cluded instead with the thinking that he will provide more of a cutting edge in attack with the ball in hand. Still, it is a gamble because Furbank, who also can operate at flyhalf, has yet to con‐ vince in his six caps dating to 2020.
The decision at No. 15 is influ‐ enced by the return from injury of inside center Ollie Lawrence, who offers England a heavy‐duty ball‐carrier capable of breaking tackles and drawing in defend‐ ers.
Furbank and Lawrence are two of five changes made by England coach Steve Borthwick, with Ellis Genge and Dan Cole coming into the front row in a rotation of the props and Danny Care promoted from the bench as a replacement for the injured Alex Mitchell.
George Martin was named on the bench ahead of what would be his first appearance since starring in the Rugby World Cup semifinal loss to South Africa in October. He has been out with a knee injury.
England has two wins from two, like Ireland, but faces its toughest test against Scotland, which also has a changed full‐ back as Blair Kinghorn returns from a knee injury.
Kinghorn replaces Harry Pater‐ son while former captain Jamie
Ritchie, who was dropped from the squad for the loss to France in Round 2, is back at blindside flanker as Matt Fagerson drops out.
Kyle Steyn was picked on the right wing ahead of Kyle Rowe.
Frawley replaces injured Keenan in Ireland side facing Wales in Six Nations
Hugo Keenan was ruled out by a knee injury and replaced by test rookie Ciaran Frawley at fullback in the Ireland side wel‐ coming Wales in Six Nations rugby on Saturday.
Ireland made seven changes on Thursday after beating Italy 36‐ 0 in the last round, but the start‐ ing XV that thumped France 38‐17 in Marseille in the opening round was restored with the ex‐ ception of Keenan.
He was injured against Italy and hasn't fully recovered, but the coaches expect him to be available for the last two rounds against England and Scotland. Keenan has played more minutes for Ireland than anyone else since he burst on the test scene in 2021.
Frawley was originally picked to vie for flyhalf with Jack Crow‐ ley.
But the fullback options were limited after Jimmy O'Brien and Mack Hansen were injured out of the tournament.
Around the squad since 2021, Frawley has about 40 minutes of test experience after coming off the bench in a World Cup warmup win against Italy and at the end of the France win.
Back into the side that is chas‐ ing consecutive Grand Slams have come tight forwards Tadhg Furlong and Tadhg Beirne, back‐ rowers Josh van der Flier and captain Peter O'Mahony, scrumhalf Jamison Gibson‐Park and Bundee Aki.
In a return to a 6‐2 split of for‐ wards‐backs reserves was un‐ capped Munster tighthead Oli Jager, who came back to Ireland last year after a decade in New Zealand, where he represented the Crusaders and Canterbury.
Wales was named on Tuesday, and the recall of flyhalf Sam Costelow was the only change to the team that started the 16‐14 loss to England at Twickenham.