Six Nations: Nathan McBeth to start as Scotland make four changes for England Calcutta Cup clash
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend makes four changes to his side ahead of Saturday's 144th Calcutta Cup clash against England at Murrayfield; England seeking first win over Scotland in Edinburgh since 2020
Thursday 12 February 2026 18:17, UK
Glasgow prop Nathan McBeth is set for his first Guinness Six Nations start after head coach Gregor Townsend made four changes to his pack for Saturday's Calcutta Cup showdown with England at Murrayfield.
Hooker Ewan Ashman, loosehead Pierre Schoeman, second-rower Grant Gilchrist and back-rower Matt Fagerson all drop out from the side that started last weekend's dismal 18-15 defeat by Italy.
The experienced quartet are replaced in the XV by George Turner, McBeth, Gregor Brown and Jamie Ritchie.
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Townsend has kept faith with the same back-line that started in Rome, meaning there is no place in the XV for the high-profile back-three trio of Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe.
Wing Graham is on the bench as part of a 5-3 split, with the other two again omitted from the squad entirely.
The absence of Ashman, Schoeman and Gilchrist means, remarkably, there are no Edinburgh players in the starting XV.
Townsend insisted he will not allow the ongoing scrutiny of his position as Scotland head coach to distract him from the task of trying to regain the Calcutta Cup on Saturday.
The 52-year-old has been the subject of intense criticism and calls for him to quit or be sacked after a dismal 18-15 defeat by Italy in last Saturday's Guinness Six Nations opener.
Townsend, who dismissed any notion of stepping down at his post-match press conference in Rome, said on Thursday that the backlash has not affected his focus in the lead-up to Saturday's Murrayfield showdown with England.
"To be honest, it's only really on days like this where you have to experience it because it's such a busy job," said Townsend, facing the media in Edinburgh.
"You fill every minute of the day with reviewing what we could have done better, going into selection, going into training. It's part of the job, part of losing.
"The feeling of losing is worse than the distraction around when people are giving their opinions to the group or to me as a coach.
"If we take Tonga out [a 56-0 win], the last two results against Italy and Argentina have been disappointing. That opens up opportunities for criticising the team, criticising the coach, I get that.
"It's not good enough from our perspective, but we didn't win those games and we're hugely disappointed and that's what we're working to rectify."
Scotland team to face England
Starting XV: 15 Tom Jordan, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (captain), 11 Jamie Dobie, 10 Finn Russell (vice-captain),9 Ben White, 1 Nathan McBeth, 2 George Turner, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Gregor Brown, 5 Scott Cummings, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 7 Rory Darge (vice-captain), 8 Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Darcy Graham.
Scotland's 2026 Six Nations fixtures
All times UK and Ireland
- Italy 18-15 Scotland (Saturday February 7) - Stadio Olimpico, Rome
- vs England (Saturday February 14) - Murrayfield, Edinburgh (4.40pm)
- vs Wales (Saturday February 21) - Principality Stadium, Cardiff (4.40pm)
- vs France (Saturday March 7) - Murrayfield, Edinburgh (2.10pm)
- vs Ireland (Saturday March 14) - Aviva Stadium, Dublin (2.10pm)
