Six Nations 2014: Stuart Lancaster backs Jonny May and England"s young guns ...

England pledged that they would approach the match, a fixture that has yielded

only two tries in the past decade, with the same brio that they took to

Paris.

Players are not often reprieved after a loss but there is little doubt that

Lancaster has faith in this new brigade – from Jonny May, the wing with the

broken nose, to Jack Nowell, the rookie on the other wing, and new centre

Luther Burrell – to bring home the booty.

His young men grew in stature from the first whistle in Paris.

“The motivation in selection was to use the pain of losing and channel it into

a positive performance against Scotland,” Lancaster said.

“This team deserves another game, a chance to build performance. But it is

about stepping it up again.

“Our ambition is to win the championship and that is going to be very

hard if we’ve lost the first two matches.

“So, yes, this is a huge game. There are expectations on us, but the All

Blacks embrace expectation and thrive on it.

“There is a lot of internal expectation within camp to do well.”

Even with his crooked nose, May looks the part in this same-look, new-age

England side.

He shows little fear, either in his attacking intent or in his willingness to

get straight back into the fray, even though he acknowledges that he will

probably get another smack from a Scottish opponent pretty soon after the

start.

The Gloucester wing lasted only six minutes at the Stade de France before

being forced off with his nose fractured and his face bloodied.

Yet even in that short space of time, May showed a glimpse of the boldness

that is the hallmark of his play.

Once a specialist had decreed on Monday that there was no damage to May’s

cheekbone or eye socket, he was cleared to play.

May declined the offer of a protective mask and insisted on doing full-contact

sessions from Tuesday onwards.

The 23-year-old promises that England will adopt the same audacious outlook

that they took with them to Paris, even though the weather forecast is dire,

the pitch is a mess and the Scots are notorious for their ability to stifle

the flow of games.

“We are going to go out with the same mindset, to take it to Scotland and play

on our terms,” May said.

“I have loads of belief in myself and my team-mates to go out there and impose

our game on them.”

May revealed that he had been a victim of friendly fire last weekend, his nose

ending up smeared across his face as a result of a collision with the knee

of Mike Brown, the Harlequins full-back.

“I remember calling not to get the ball as I had two men on me but Faz [Owen

Farrell] obviously thought I was calling for it,” May said.

“So, I carried it in to what was a messy ruck, from which we won a penalty,

but Browny came straight in and kneed me on the nose.

“I have broken my nose in the past, had a few knocks on it recently, so

it was almost waiting to go.

“It wasn’t that painful but there was a lot of blood and concerns about

the eye socket.

“The nose is sore most of the time. It gets hit in most games.

“It was frustrating but I have tried to see it in a positive light.

“I wasn’t fazed by the experience and the way the game opened up, there

would have been opportunities. That is what I want to build on now.”

Lancaster expects that to be the case. “Jonny was so alive and had so much

belief going into the game which turned out to be one that would have suited

his talent,” the England head coach said.

England have worked hard on their restarts, admitting that the opening phases

in their last two matches, against France and New

Zealand, have been well below par, the team falling 16-3 adrift last

weekend, with a slightly worse deficit racked up against the All Blacks.

“We have got to get a proper foothold,” said Lancaster, who won at Murrayfield

two years ago in his first match after taking over the team.

“We had to fight tooth and nail for that. There wasn’t much finesse about it.

We are a lot more cohesive these days.”

His selection illustrates the point perfectly.

Squad details

Scotland: S Hogg (Glasgow); T Seymour (Glasgow), A Dunbar (Glasgow), M

Scott (Edinburgh), S Lamont (Glasgow), D Weir (Glasgow), G Laidlaw

(Edinburgh, capt); R Grant (Glasgow), R Ford (Edinburgh), M Low (Glasgow), T

Swinson (Glasgow), J Hamilton (Montpellier), R Wilson (Glasgow), C Fusaro

(Glasgow), D Denton (Edinburgh). Replacements: S Lawson (Newcastle Falcons),

A Dickinson (Edinburgh), G Cross (Edinburgh), J Gray (Glasgow), J Beattie

(Montpellier), C Cusiter (Glasgow), D Taylor (Saracens), M Evans (Castres).

England: M Brown (Harlequins); J Nowell (Exeter), L Burrell

(Northampton), B Twelvetrees (Gloucester), J May (Gloucester); O Farrell

(Saracens), D Care (Harlequins); J Marler (Harlequins), D Hartley

(Northampton), D Cole (Leicester), J Launchbury (Wasps), C Lawes

(Northampton), T Wood (Northampton), C Robshaw (Harlequins), B Vunipola

(Saracens). Replacements: T Youngs (Leicester), M Vunipola (Saracens), H

Thomas (Sale), D Attwood (Bath), B Morgan (Gloucester), L Dickson

(Northampton), B Barritt (Saracens), A Goode (Saracens).

Six Nations 2014: Stuart Lancaster backs Jonny May and England"s young guns ...