Six Nations blog: England will look to defence to overcome Scotland IT'S an England team without too many weaknesses even in the absence of Manu Tuilagi. It's not a like-for-like swap, because Billy Twelvetrees comes in at 12 with Brad Barritt moving one wider, but his replacement may prove to be a better long-term bet than the big hitting Samoan. Twelvetrees (he took his mother's maiden name to prevent it from dying out) is the complete midfielder. He is big and powerful, a strong defender and a good carrier. He has the decision making capability to do a turn at ten if needs be and he has the rounded kicking game of a traditional Kiwi second five eighth. I fancy he may be kitted up in red rather than white this summer if the Six Nations goes well for him. In Barritt and Tuilagi England have two centres that are too similar. Twelvetrees brings a different dimension, which is why Stuart Lancaster has risked handing him a debut in a tricky looking Calcutta Cup match. England will look to their defence to win them this game, at least for the first 60 minutes of it. Their defence is their most potent offence. Scotland can expect Farrell/Twelvetrees/Barritt to be in their face all afternoon, desperate to make tackles beyond the gain line. Once that happens the defending side are on the front foot. Once the side in possession go backwards in two or three phases they will inevitably lose patience and kick the ball away. Job done. Scotland need patience, they require an accurate kicking game (1/ long and 2/ just in behind the rush defence) and they need to attack the fringes of the breakdown with one out rugby as well as pick and drives through the middle. Most importantly the Scots need to take ball the flat to the gain line and at speed. If the Scottish first receiver catches the ball deep and static they are goosed. If it happens often, the Scots can kiss this match goodbye. 30/01/2013: Scotland's Calcutta Cup selection a gamble SO Scott Johnson is a gambling man and, since Scotland have little to lose, why not you might ask? Admittedly he has played safe with Dougie Hall at hooker since the Scots can't afford any hiccups at the sidelines but at scrumhalf the squad boasts two players who have between them made one international start for Scotland. Greig Laidlaw has come off the bench twice at scrumhalf, as has Henry Pyrgos but the Glasgow man wins the "Experience Stakes" by a short nose thanks to his one and only start against Tonga in Aberdeen...and we all know how that ended. Actually Pyrgos played pretty well that day and one break in the first half should have led to a score if the ball had been moved wide to the right. Johnson will likely bring him on late in the game if Scotland are trailing and ask the livewire to take advantage of some tiring legs to spark Scotland into life with his trademark snipes around the breakdown. No place for Rory Lawson, which is a surprise. I know Johnson is looking to the future but Lawson's 31 years and 31 caps worth of experience in such a key position might yet come in handy at Twickenham. Scotland on Sunday rugby writer Iain Morrison will be blogging throughout the Six Nations