England v Scotland: Jamie Ritchie to captain Scotland in Six Nations against England but Zander Fagerson misses out | Rugby Union News

Scotland open their 2023 Six Nations campaign against England in Twickenham on Saturday, February 4 (4.45pm kick-off); Jamie Ritchie will captain the side, while Luke Crosbie will make his second start; Zander Fagerson has not made the side due to fitness issues.

Jamie Ritchie will captain Scotland for the first time in the Six Nations

Jamie Ritchie will captain Scotland for the Six Nations opener against England, but Zander Fagerson was not fit enough to be included in Gregor Townsend’s 23-man squad.

Experienced duo Richie Gray and Grant Gilchrist resume their partnership in the second row after impressing during last year’s Autumn Nation Series, with Gilchrist being named as vice-captain.

Luke Crosbie will his second start for Gregor Townsend’s team and he will play at open-side flanker on Saturday.

But there is no place in the side for Fagerson, who has not been deemed fit enough to make the 23-man squad, as the Glasgow prop continues to recover from a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined since December.

Forwards coach John Dalziel said on Tuesday he was in contention for the Calcutta Cup showdown but misses out, with Gregor Townsend telling Sky Sports that Fagerson will be available next week.

Pierre Schoeman starts at loosehead prop in his 17th consecutive international since his 2021 debut, with the evergreen WP Nel – who reached 50 caps in November – selected at tighthead and George Turner named at hooker.

Zander Fagerson will miss the Six Nations opener against England

In the back division, scrum-half Ben White will link up with stand-off Finn Russell, a year on from his try-scoring debut in the Calcutta Cup at Murrayfield.

White comes in for regular number nine Ali Price, who isn’t even on the bench, while Glasgow’s Kyle Steyn has beaten off competition from Blair Kinghorn and Sean Maitland to take the injured Darcy Graham’s place on the wing.

Chris Harris – who starts on the bench – is a surprise omission from the XV, with Huw Jones taking over from the Gloucester centre.

Sione Tuipulotu is named alongside Jones as the centre pairing, the former having scored his first tries for Scotland in November’s win over Argentina, with the latter having notched no fewer than four tries against England in as many games against them.

In the back three, Scotland’s record try-scorer Stuart Hogg continues at full-back, with Duhan van der Merwe and Kyle Steyn lining up on the wings.

Stuart Hogg will play at full-back

Townsend has selected a bench with a 5-3 split between forwards and backs, with Glasgow Warriors clubmates Fraser Brown, Jamie Bhatti, Simon Berghan and Jack Dempsey, alongside Jonny Gray, listed as pack replacements.

George Horne, Blair Kinghorn and Chris Harris complete the matchday squad as substitute options.

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Kyle Steyn,13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu 11 caps, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 George Turner, 3 WP Nel, 4 Richie Gray, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 6 Jamie Ritchie, 7 Luke Crosbie, 8 Matt Fagerson

Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Jonny Gray, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 George Horne, 22 Blair Kinghorn, 23 Chris Harris