Maybe England’s luck has genuinely turned. Although Joe Worsley and Toby Flood face late fitness tests, for the first time in 17 months they have been able to name an unchanged XV for the final round of the RBS Six Nations Championship at Twickenham on Saturday, when Scotland will come south carrying the Calcutta Cup and, according to Martin Johnson, a chip on their shoulders.

The England team manager has no truck with the notion that England underperform against Scotland on a regular basis and no knowledge (not having been there) of ungracious behaviour a year ago when the home side won at Murrayfield. “Our motivation as a team is to improve our performance from last weekend,” Johnson said in the wake of the 34-10 victory over France. “We’ve had one win in the last three matches, we need the same hunger, the same desire.”

It was Steve Borthwick, the England captain, who alleged on Tuesday that there had been an element of gloating after the 2008 game with Scotland, who won 15-9. “What Steve said is personal to him,” Johnson added. “Scotland will regard themselves this weekend as underdogs and have that chip on their shoulders that makes them difficult to beat.”

The only change made by either country comes in Scotland’s back row, where Scott Gray, the Northampton flanker, makes his first start since 2004 in preference to John Barclay, and Kelly Brown returns to the bench. “Scotland have won one game in this tournament. If they win at Twickenham \, they will be level with us on points,” Johnson said. “Warren Gatland \ said that his players hate the Irish most, that’s news to me but there you go.

“The important thing about this tournament is that it matters to people. We live among each other but you have all this banter, that’s what makes these games great.”

Frank Hadden, who has developed a strong survival instinct as the Scotland head coach, was at a loss to understand Borthwick’s criticism. “If he was being specific about something, then maybe we could judge whether we were gracious or not,” Hadden said. It has been suggested that Borthwick took exception to videos shown during the post-match dinner of great moments in Scotland’s rugby history.

England are likely to wait until tomorrow before confirming Flood’s place at fly half and Worsley’s at open-side flanker but they have retained Tom Rees, the London Wasps flanker, in case Worsley’s split and partially dislocated right thumb does not mend in time.

Flood, who ran with the team yesterday, said that his damaged shoulder had settled well. “I thought that I would be out for a couple of weeks but the physios have worked really hard on me,” he said.

If one former Newcastle Falcons fly half is happy, an old club-mate must wait for a change in fortunes. Jonny Wilkinson had hoped to be involved with the Falcons’ Guinness Premiership game away to Bath on Saturday after five months out with a dislocated kneecap but there has been a reaction during training. “To involve him on Saturday would be hasty but he’s very close and it might well be that he gets a run next week at home to Leicester,” Steve Bates, the director of rugby, said.

Damian Hopley, the chief executive of the Professional Rugby Players’ Association, is taking legal advice over the letter sent to the England squad by Francis Baron, the RFU chief executive. It has been suggested that the letter, warning players that they could jeopardise their international future by playing overseas, could constitute restraint of trade.

Riki Flutey, one of three Wasps players, along with James Haskell and Tom Palmer, who will be playing in France next season, has no second thoughts. “From the day I decided I would go to Brive, I could get on with life,” the England centre said. “I’ve kept England and Wasps in the loop during the whole process.”

Amy Garnett, the England women’s hooker, has been cleared by a disciplinary hearing to play against Scotland at London Welsh on Saturday. Garnett, a police officer, had been cited for punching after the 52-7 win over France last weekend amid suggestions that she was retaliating against foul play.

How they line up

England (to play Scotland at Twickenham on Saturday): D Armitage (London Irish); M Cueto (Sale Sharks), M Tindall (Gloucester), R Flutey (London Wasps), U Monye (Harlequins); T Flood (Leicester), H Ellis (Leicester); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), L Mears (Bath), P Vickery (London Wasps), S Borthwick (Saracens, captain), S Shaw (London Wasps), T Croft (Leicester), J Worsley (London Wasps), N Easter (Harlequins). Replacements: D Hartley (Northampton), J White (Leicester), N Kennedy (London Irish), J Haskell (London Wasps), D Care (Harlequins), A Goode (Brive), M Tait (Sale Sharks).

Scotland: C Paterson; S Danielli, M Evans, G Morrison, T Evans; P Godman, M Blair (captain); A Dickinson, R Ford, E Murray, J White, J Hamilton, A Strokosch, S Gray, S Taylor. Replacements: D Hall, M Low, N Hines, K Brown, C Cusiter, N De Luca, H Southwell.