Scotland coach Andy Robinson insists his side have shown no signs of fear ahead of Saturday’s must-win clash against England at Eden Park.
Robinson wants more pace in the attack from the side that faced Argentina, with Euan Murray named at tighthead prop and Mike Blair at scrum-half in place of Rory Lawson.
In all he has made six changes, with No. 8 Richie Vernon, winger Simon Danielli and centre Joe Ansbro also returning for the crucial pool B match.
And while Scotland know they will almost certainly be heading home from New Zealand if they fail to defeat the auld enemy by eight points, the former England coach claims his squad are relishing the clash.
Robinson said: “We know the challenge we face and the players are really excited by it. There is a great buzz about the place and the focus is on winning the match, not getting ahead of ourselves.
“It is important that we find wide spaces to attack in and that is why we have picked a side based on speed.
“It is important to have a running threat at nine. We felt Rory moved the ball around well in the games he has played but
Mike, and Chris coming off the bench, actually add that running threat. We want to ask questions of England, we need that at nine.
“We can’t go on the pitch and chase the game, we’ve got to build ourselves into the game.”
Among those to miss out are injured duo Kelly Brown and Jim Hamilton, while Nick De Luca drops to the bench in Auckland.
Sean Lamont moves to inside centre to partner Ansbro in a game that sees Chris Paterson make a Scottish record 15th World Cup appearance.
Scotland need to win and deny England a bonus point in their first clash on neutral soil for 140 years to maintain their record of making the knockout stages in every World Cup to date.
“We’re not playing Argentina, we’re playing England. It’s a completely different game,” Robinson added.
“We’ve got to get the scoreboard moving right at the start of the game, play what’s in front of us and not get concerned about the scoreboard.
“We have not got our execution right in the final third. This is not about knocking England out of the tournament but about Scotland making the quarter-finals.”
Scotland team to face England:
15. Chris Paterson – Edinburgh 14. Max Evans – Castres 13. Joe Ansbro – London Irish 12. Sean Lamont – Scarlets 11. Simon Danielli – Ulster 10. Ruaridh Jackson – Glasgow Warriors 9. Mike Blair – Edinburgh 1. Allan Jacobsen – Edinburgh 2. Ross Ford – Edinburgh 3. Euan Murray – Newcastle 4. Richie Gray – Glasgow Warriors 5. Alastair Kellock – Glasgow Warriors 6. Alasdair Strokosch – Gloucester 7. John Barclay – Glasgow Warriors 8. Richie Vernon – Sale Sharks
Replacements: 16. Scott Lawson – Gloucester 17. Alasdair Dickinson – Sale Sharks 18. Nathan Hines – Clermont Auvergne 19. Ross Rennie – Edinburgh 20. Chris Cusiter – Glasgow Warriors 21. Dan Parks – Cardiff Blues 22. Nick De Luca – Edinburgh
