England manager Martin Johnson described his selection decision for Saturday's Calcutta Cup showdown with Scotland as the toughest of his 18-month tenure.
The "marathon" deliberations following England's 20-16 defeat to Ireland resulted in two key decisions - to retain Delon Armitage at full-back ahead of Ben Foden and replace flanker Lewis Moody with Joe Worsley.
"It was probably the longest selection process since I have been involved and the toughest but that's good. There is pressure on players to perform," said Johnson.
Johnson, who spent his whole playing career at Leicester, laughed off the tongue-in-cheek suggestion that Moody was dropped as punishment because he is leaving Welford Road for Bath next season.
With his serious face on, Johnson insisted Moody had not been dropped at all - rather that Worsley had been preferred at openside for a physical showdown with the Scottish back row.
Worsley is widely considered to be the best defender in the England set-up, he is a powerful ball-carrier and Johnson believes the Wasps veteran is the perfect fit to tackle the Scots.
"We had this conversation last year when we picked Joe at seven but he was probably our best player," said Johnson.
"There is not a weakness in Lewis' game but Joe's defence is good and his ball-carrying is particularly strong."
Johnson's other change to the side from the Ireland game was the expected inclusion of Leicester lock Louis Deacon in place of the injured Simon Shaw.
But there was a surprise on the bench, with Leicester's uncapped scrum-half Ben Youngs preferred to Paul Hodgson.
Youngs, 20, went head-to-head with Hodgson in Leicester's 35-19 victory over London Irish on Saturday and, like Armitage, he was also surprised to be selected.
"It is a harsh call on Paul Hodgson who has been fantastic for us on and off the field. Ben is playing well enough and we feel he deserves a chance," said Johnson.
"I told Ben he was on the bench and he said 'but Leicester haven't got a game this weekend'.
"I had to say 'no, you are on the bench for us!"'
Murrayfield has been a graveyard for England in recent years. Ben Youngs' father, Nick, won six caps for England at scrum-half and lost there in 1984.
Saturday's game will mark the 20th anniversary of Scotland's 13-7 Grand Slam-clinching victory in 1990 and England have been beaten on each of their last two visits to Scotland.
Adding extra spice to the occasion, Johnson goes up against the former England coach Andy Robinson, who is now in charge of a Scotland side smarting from three straight defeats.
"They will be very confrontational but they are not afraid to try things so you have to be very alert," said Johnson.
"Their driving game has improved since he has been there. It will be a typical England-Scotland encounter in many ways."
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