England fullback sends 104kg Tuipulotu flying in manic carry
Loading your back line with players over 100kg seems very Warren Gatlandy, but Gregor Townsend is clearly keen on the idea as well.
Equally, England have their own in their backs, fullback Freddie Steward. What that means is that there are some brutal collisions amongst the backs, and it did not take long in the Calcutta Cup Test for fans to be treated to their first back on back smash.
Steward came out on top in this one, bulldozing over all of Scotland’s 104kg powerhouse inside centre Sione Tuipulotu. Then again, Steward is not too dissimilar in weight, which was going to make this a tasty match up.
It was Scotland’s other back line beast, Duhan van der Merwe, who lit up the first half with on of Twickenham’s great tries.
Take a look at Steward’s carry:
😮 Freddie Steward came to play hard 💥#GuinnessSixNations | #ENGvSCO pic.twitter.com/sVSYaysWpR
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 4, 2023
England XV
15. Freddie Steward
14. Max Malins
13. Joe Marchant
12. Owen Farrell (C)
11. Ollie Hassell-Collins
10. Marcus Smith
9. Jack van Poortvliet
1. Ellis Genge (VC)
2. Jamie George
3. Kyle Sinckler
4. Maro Itoje
5. Ollie Chessum
6. Lewis Ludlam
7. Ben Curry
8. Alex Dombrandt
Replacements
16. Jack Walker
17. Mako Vunipola
18. Dan Cole
19. Nick Isiekwe
20. Ben Earl
21. Ben Youngs
22. Ollie Lawrence
23. Anthony Watson
Scotland XV
15. Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) 96 caps
14. Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors) 5 caps
13. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) 31 caps
12. Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors) 11 caps
11. Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby) 23 caps
10. Finn Russell (Racing 92) 65 caps
9. Ben White (London Irish) 9 caps
1. Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) 16 caps
2. George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) 30 caps
3. WP Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) 50 caps
4. Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 69 caps
5. Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) – Vice Captain – 59 caps
6. Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby) – Captain – 36 caps
7. Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby) 2 caps
8. Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 28 caps
Replacements
16. Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) 57 caps
17. Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) 25 caps
18. Simon Berghan (Glasgow Warriors) 31 caps
19. Jonny Gray (Exeter Chiefs) 72 caps
20. Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors) 4 caps
21. George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 18 caps
22. Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) 38 caps
23. Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby) 39 caps