Maro Itoje for England captain

Borthwick and Itoje back hard working returnees

Steve Borthwick and have praised the resilience of the players in the current team who have fought to earn their places in the squad following their omissions of late.

Borthwick said: ”I think Ben [Curry] has worked really hard for this opportunity. Whenever there are opportunities that come along with the nature of injuries, it's up to players to grab that opportunity.

“I'm excited for him, excited for this new back-row trio and also for Ben Earl, who is going to come off the bench. He is another player who has been fighting for an opportunity with England.”

“You'll see that with this team, there are a lot of players who have been fighting for an England opportunity for a fair period of time. Now they've got their opportunity,” the head coach added.

Itoje, who will start at lock against , has been impressed by the determination shown by those who have had to work to get back into the England set up.

In particular, he spoke highly of his teammate Earl who has been named as a replacement. 

Earl made his international debut against Scotland in in February 2020, the sole occasion in the last five meetings between the two sides where England have lifted the Calcutta Cup.

He made his last appearance for England in 2021 against in Dublin, and the journey to get to Saturday where he will earn his 14th cap hasn't always been smooth.

“He's always been incredibly passionate about playing for England. It's always been his big desire to play for England. As his team-mate at club and country, I'm incredibly proud of the diligence and hard work he's put into his individual game that we see every week, but also his mental fortitude to stick at it,” Itoje said with pride.

The theme of diligence is woven through the England squad with a number of players who have been included in Borthwick's squad having found themselves often not selected under his predecessor .

“When you have those types of players, they've been on the wrong side of selection for a while, and haven't given up, announced their retirement from international rugby, haven't gone away. They've stuck at it, worked on their game, on their craft, quietly worked on their craft, gone about their business and are now back in the environment,” Itoje said.

“Huge kudos to those individuals as it's genuinely not easy. Seeing people going through the emotional rollercoaster of selection, sometimes they're in, sometimes they're not, sometimes they're out for extensive periods of time.

“Playing for England is the pinnacle, and what every player in the wants to do, even the ones that aren't even English,” he added with a chuckle.

Curry is another player who has been out of the England environment for a while who now has been brought back by Borthwick.

While Curry is, in some ways, a familiar face to Itoje who has worn the rose alongside his identical twin brother Tom, the lock has relished the opportunity to get to know Ben and play alongside him, as he will be doing on Saturday.

“It's a really weird experience the first time I met Ben properly.” Itoje added. “Obviously I've played against him and met him in passing a few times; but when I came into camp he was at the dining table, then in my head I was like ‘I know you, but I actually don't know you'.

“I looked at him and was like “this is Tom”, obviously he's not Tom but he looks exactly like Tom, so my brain was like “I know this guy” and I was looking at him like I know him, but I don't really know him, and he was looking at me like “I don't know you”,” he said in a jovial tone.

“I've been impressed with him. He's subtly different to his brother – a little bit more normal. Tom is quite a unique individual, putting it lightly. He's settled in well, they have the same DNA, are very similar, high-class, high-quality players, and I'm looking forward to seeing him go.

“There are slight differences but, again, they're both . Tom is a bit thicker, Ben is a little leaner; Ben is a little bit quicker, maybe, and Tom is a little stronger. They are very similar, they are identical twins after all,” he added. 

Written by Imogen Ainsworth

England: Steward; Malins, Marchant, Farrell (capt), Hassell-Collins; Smith, Van Poortvliet; Genge, George, Sinckler, Itoje, Chessum, Ludlam, B Curry, Dombrandt.

Replacements: Walker, M Vunipola, Cole, Isiekwe, Earl, Youngs, Lawrence, Watson.

Scotland: Hogg; Steyn, Jones, Tuipulotu, Van der Merwe; Russell, White; Schoeman, Turner, Nel; R Gray, Gilchrist; Ritchie (capt), Crosbie, M Fagerson.

Replacements: Brown, Bhatti, Berghan, J Gray, Dempsey, Horne, Kinghorn, Harris.

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