May happy to battle on despite fractured nose

May will take his place on the left wing of an unchanged starting XV after being given the all-clear to play at Murrayfield despite incurring an undisplaced fracture to his nose against France.

The Gloucester rookie lasted only eight minutes of the 26-24 RBS Six Nations defeat in Paris after colliding with the knee of team-mate Mike Brown.

Withdrawn from the Stade de France as a precautionary measure, a specialist subsequently cleared him for the trip to Edinburgh where he is expecting a recurring problem to strike once again.

“I’ve broken my nose in the past and I’ve had a few knocks on it recently. It was waiting to go almost,” said May.

“I will probably get a smack on the nose early in the Scotland game, but it’s sore most of the time anyway. It gets hit in most games.

“If that happens it might bleed, in which case I’ll go off and get it treated and go straight back on if I can.

“At least we’re aware of what it is this time. I’m not worried about it.”

May has ruled out the need to wear a protective face mask at Murrayfield and despite the brief duration of his second cap, he enjoyed every second of it.

“I wasn’t fazed by the occasion and was relishing the environment,” said the 23-year-old.

“There was no point getting down in the dumps about the nose when I didn’t know what the situation was. Luckily enough there was a positive outcome.

“It wasn’t particularly painful at the time, it’s just that there was so much blood and the doctor wasn’t too sure of what it was.

“In terms of trying to protect me he made the decision that I wouldn’t go back on because he was worried that I might have fractured my cheekbone or eye socket.”

It is the first time in Stuart Lancaster’s two-year reign as England head coach that the same starting XV has been named for successive matches, with Leeds-born Danny Care continuing at scrum-half and Huddersfield-born Luther Burrell at outside centre after both impressed in the defeat in Paris.

England were crushed by the circumstances of their loss at the Stade de France, but have been consoled by a spirited performance full of attacking intent that was worthy of a different outcome.

“We want the team to build on the display against France and use that defeat as motivation,” said Lancaster. “It’s a second chance for this team. Having reviewed the game there were a lot more ups than downs.

“We have to trust the players to get the win this time.”

Scott Johnson admits dropping captain Kelly Brown from the Scotland team was one of the toughest decisions of his coaching career.

The Scots opened up their RBS Six Nations campaign with a 28-6 defeat to Ireland, with Saracens flanker Brown a faint shadow of his usual combative self at the Aviva Stadium. His No 7 jersey goes to Glasgow’s Chris Fusaro.

Johnson said: “It was certainly one of the hardest decisions I’ve ever had to make as Scotland head coach because there is a human side to this job.

“I care for him and it was a tough decision. He’s a guy I admire but it was the right decision.”