Finn Russell returns as Scots seek record Calcutta Cup streak against England

Finn Russell has a "big role" to play after being passed fit as Scotland seek a record fifth straight Calcutta Cup victory against England in the Six Nations, according to head coach Gregor Townsend.

The fly-half was substituted with a concussion during the defeat to Ireland two weeks ago after clashing heads with team-mate Darcy Graham, who despite having observed a 12-day concussion protocol will not play at Twickenham on Saturday.

The winger left the field at Murrayfield on a stretcher and wearing a neck brace after colliding with Russell in the 22nd minute of Scotland's 32-18 loss. He was taken to hospital where he underwent x-rays and a CT scan, all of which came back clear.

Both players have observed the necessary criteria for returning to full contact, but owing to the seriousness of Graham’s injury he will not be risked.

"You never know with concussions how long it’s going to take until players are fully recovered," said Townsend. "Finn was symptom-free the day after the Ireland game, he had to go on a 12-day recovery protocol like Darcy, but he’s been fine ever since and trained with us fully from Wednesday.

"In discussion with the medical team, just because it was a bigger injury, Darcy was on the 12-day protocol and was symptom-free after a couple of days and has been great.

"But we felt it wasn’t right to bring him into full contact this week, just to give him an opportunity to have another week’s recovery. He’s trained with us out in Spain, just not the contact elements.

"He’ll probably just be out for a week. He might not play next week as it’s a fallow week so we know he would be fully fit for our next game."

The Edinburgh wing has been replaced by Glasgow's Kyle Rowe in the only change to Scotland’s backline from