Eddie Jones insisted on Thursday (4 February) he has selected the 23 best players players, ahead of England's opening Six Nations match with Scotland.

SOUNDBITE: (English) Eddie Jones, England head coach:

(on the prospect of playing Scotland at Murrayfield)

"Fantastic. That's what Test rugby is about, isn't it? And when they talk about the Six Nations being the best Championship in the world, that's the whole reason why it's the greatest Championship, because every game means so much. It means so much to the fans, it means so much to the nations. So if you can't get excited about it, you're not going to get excited about anything are you? The 23 that we have picked have got a fantastic opportunity to play well for England in front of how many thousand of Scots."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Eddie Jones, England head coach:

(on his selection of three vice captains)

"Well, I think when you're looking at people to support the captain, you're looking at a variety of characters, a variety of positions, a variety of personalities and I think they fill it well. Billy (Vunipola) is a young guy, probably hasn't had many leadership responsibilities, but is a really key player at number eight. Owen (Farrell) is tough as nails, very good speaker. Brown (Mike Brown) is more of the quiet assassin type at the back, but you know, a very committed guy. So I think those three guys are a nice balance."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Dylan Hartley, England captain:

(on what's important in the game against Scotland)

"A win's a win isn't it. We're not thinking too far ahead. What's important for us is how we start the game. We've had two weeks to prepare. We've been so detailed. Preparation has gone well. We've worked hard. We had our final big session today, we've still got another little run tomorrow. We will be prepared so timing is no excuse for us. We'll be ready for the challenge and the challenge for us is to start the game well."