Curry to captain England in Six Nations opener against Scotland

LONDON :Tom Curry was named England captain on Thursday as coach Eddie Jones announced his side for their opening Six Nations match against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Curry takes over from the injured Courtney Lawes, while Joe Marchant has returned to the team on the left wing after completing COVID-19 isolation protocols.

Marcus Smith was picked at fly half with Henry Slade, on the inside, and Elliot Daly to make up the centre pairing.

The 23-year-old Curry, the youngest captain since Will Carling in 1988, leads a side who must do without Lawes and Jonny Hill in the middle of the scrum.

It had been speculated that Lawes might be able to play but both are added to an injury list that already had Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi and Jonny May on it.

Lawes is still recovering from concussion while Hill has a stress fracture and both were unable to train properly this week.

The naming of the centre pairing had been the subject of much conjecture with Daly and Slade given the nod. Daly starts only his second match for England at outside centre more than five years since his first in 2016 against South Africa

Number eight Sam Simmonds makes his first start for England since 2018 while Nick Isiekwe partners Maro Itoje in the second row. Ellis Genge starts ahead of Joe Marler at prop.

“As the first game, this match is hugely important to both sides and we will both want to get off to a winning start,” said Jones as he named his team.

“Tom Curry will captain the side for this game and has the respect of the team around him, in Owen and Courtney’s absence. He also has the support of the vice captains and other leaders in the team such as Maro Itoje and Ben Youngs,” added the coach.

“We have prepared really well for this game. We’ve