England face midfield selection quandary for Scotland trip

LONDON : England go into Saturday's trip to Scotland in the unaccustomed position of having won their first two Six Nations games but after two solid but unspectacular performances coach Steve Borthwick is expected to make some changes.

He picked the same starting teams to edge past Italy and Wales, both after falling heavily behind, and though there were occasional signs of the much-discussed "layered-on attack", it was hardly a revolutionary shift from the strait-jacketed tactics that took them to the World Cup semi-finals.

Having lost their first match in the previous four championships, Borthwick was happy for England to get a winning start but his remaining games - away to Scotland, home to Ireland and in France - represent a step up in quality.

Borthwick knows his side will need to find more in attack as well as further honing the new defensive approach.

One change has been enforced as first-choice scrumhalf Alex Mitchell has been ruled out of the rest of the championship with a knee ligament injury, leaving Danny Care in line to win his 99th cap, with Ben Spencer probably on the bench hoping for a first appearance since a cameo at the end of the 2019 World Cup final.

It is the midfield, however, where Borthwick is expected to tweak when he names his team on Thursday.

Fraser Dingwall and Henry Slade filled the centre berths in the first two games and, while they brought a certain amount of creative running, neither carry much heft.

DUO RETURN

The previously injured duo of Ollie Lawrence and Manu Tuilagi are now back in training and available.

Tuilagi, still only 32 though seemingly in and out of England teams for decades, also remains a potent ball carrying threat but sooner or later an England coach is going to have to