- Sun 9 Feb, 2pm – Rubislaw, Aberdeen
La Toya Mason: England scrum-half kicks clear against France
England travel to Aberdeen seeking redemption for their shock opening-day Six Nations setback against France.
The title favourites fielded their strongest team in Grenoble but were beaten 18-6 to leave them in danger of missing out on the Championship crown for a second successive season.
Head coach Gary Street reacted by making 10 changes for Sunday’s fixture with Scotland at Aberdeen Grammar.
Veteran scrum-half La Toya Mason insists there can be no further margin for error.
Underestimated
“It was a bad day at the office for us against France and we have to give them a lot of credit,” Mason said.
“We may have underestimated the French a little bit because of how well the autumn went.
“But the title is still on if we win every game from now on. We have to win and win well. We want that trophy back.
“Scotland will be out to smash us up when we play them, so we have to give it our all because we both need that win.”
Scotland went down 59-0 to defending champions Ireland in their opening match and head coach Jules Maxton has made three changes to her starting XV.
Scotland Women head coach, Jules Maxton, has shown faith in the same 23 person squad, who lost to Ireland in the opening Six Nations tie, to take on England this coming Sunday (February 9).
Maxton has made three changes to the starting XV as prop Heather Lockhart, scrum-half Louise Dalgliesh and centre Laura Steven, have been promoted from the bench to face the Auld Enemy at Rubislaw (2pm).
Lockhart takes the loose-head jersey as captain Tracy Balmer moves into the tight-head berth, Dalgliesh gets the nod ahead of Sarah Law and Steven starts as inside centre, in turn moving Gillian Inglis to 13 and Annabel Sergeant to the right wing.
Ruth Slaven and Tess Forsberg have also reversed roles as the former plays on the blindside flank, the latter the openside.
Scotland hooker, Sarah Quick, said: “There’s a great rivalry between ourselves and England, everyone wants to pull on the shirt and give it their all in these clashes.
“We’re all really looking forward to going up to Aberdeen, it’s a new setting for us. Hopefully, we can get a good crowd who will get behind us and create a fantastic atmosphere for the game.
“From last week, we’ve learned that we need to bring a high level of intensity from the very first whistle. In the last quarter of the Ireland match, we really upped our game and competed well, we’ve just got to make sure we carry this on to play England.
“At the end of the day, there’s two teams, one ball, one game, it’s who can be the most physical and show the greatest desire, who will come out on top.”
Admission to the game, kicking off at 2pm, will be free of charge. The match will also be streamed live on Scottish Rugby’s YouTube channel. Visit www.scottishrugby.org
Scotland: 15 Johnston, 14 Sergeant, 13 Inglis, 12 Steven, 11 Gaffney, 10 Martin, 9 Dalgliesh; 1 Lockhart, 2 Quick, 3 Balmer (capt), 4 Konkel, 5 McCormack, 6 Slaven, 7 Forsberg, 8 Wheeler
Replacements: 16 McLeod, 17 Smith, 18 Robertson, 19 Wassel, 20 Stodter, 21 Law, 22 Griffith, 23 Green
England: 15 Scarratt, 14 Thompson, 13 Reed, 12 Burford, 11 Allan, 10 McLean (capt), 9 Mason; 1 Purdy, 2 Fleetwood, 3 Keates, 4 Essex, 5 McGilchrist, 6 Gallagher, 7 Packer, 8 Hunter
Replacements: 16 Foy, 17 Hemming, 18 Acheson, 19 Braund, 20 Alphonsi, 21 Gulliver, 22 Large, 23 Wilson
