Six Nations 2023: England v Scotland - Luke Crosbie in Calcutta Cup team

Luke Crosbie will win his third cap in Scotland's back row in the Six Nations opener against England at Twickenham.

The Edinburgh flanker will line up in the Calcutta Cup game alongside Matt Fagerson and captain Jamie Ritchie, with Hamish Watson not in the 23.

Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu are in the midfield with British and Irish Lions centre Chris Harris on the bench.

Gregor Townsend has picked Ben White at scrum-half for Saturday's game with Lion Ali Price not even a replacement.

Townsend has opted for Kyle Steyn rather than Sean Maitland or Blair Kinghorn to fill in for the injured Darcy Graham on the right wing.

Former captain Stuart Hogg starts at full-back despite not playing for Exeter Chiefs since 24 December because of a heel injury.

Lions back row Watson, who suffered a concussion against New Zealand on 13 November, made his comeback for Edinburgh last weekend but is not included in Townsend's squad.

"It was a difficult selection. There are so many players in really good form - and we back form now, which means there are experienced players who have played a lot of rugby for us who have missed out," Townsend told Scottish Rugby., external

"But we believe this is the strongest squad we can pick for this weekend. The players who have missed out on selection have shown real professionalism.

"Luke is a form selection. It is a tricky one because you look at how well Andy Christie, Josh Bayliss and Jack Dempsey have been playing, but Luke has really stepped up.

"If you look at the two games against Saracens in particular, we feel he brought physicality on both sides of the ball.

"Hamish is such a quality player, one of our leaders. But given he had been out for over two months, we felt one game wasn't enough to get him up to Test level.

"Zander was very close. That was really a decision with the medics. He will be available for the following week - we are pretty confident of that. We just felt another week's training was best for him."

Townsend pointed to the familiarity Glasgow team-mates Jones and Tuipulotu have with each other as a reason for their selection ahead of Harris - Scotland's defence leader in 2022 - in midfield.

"Cohesion is important, especially when you only have four training sessions to prepare the team," said the former Lions stand-off.

"Huw has been in brilliant form. Physically he is looking in his best shape but also the way he has attacked running lines and the way he has defended. We have seen the best of Huw at Glasgow."

The experienced pair of Richie Gray and vice-captain Grant Gilchrist form the second row, with Jonny Gray on the bench.

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

That means no place for Zander Fagerson, the Lions prop who has been sidelined since the start of December with a hamstring injury but who forwards coach John Dalziel said on Tuesday was available for selection.

George Horne and Kinghorn are the half-back cover on the replacements' bench, along with forwards Fraser Brown, Jamie Bhatti, Simon Berghan and Jack Dempsey.

Scotland team: Hogg; Steyn, Jones, Tuipulotu, Van der Merwe; Russell, White; Schoeman, Turner, Nel; R Gray, Gilchrist; Ritchie (c), Crosbie, M Fagerson.

Replacements: Brown, Bhatti, Berghan, J Gray, Dempsey, Horne, Kinghorn, Harris.