Kildunne and Burton backed to shine in new England roles
Elsewhere Zoe Harrison, first-choice fly-half through last year's victorious Rugby World Cup campaign, regains the 10 shirt from Holly Aitchison, while back row Abi Burton is deployed at lock where England's depth has been severely tested. Locks Zoe Stratford, Abbie Ward and Rosie Galligan are all pregnant and absent, while Morwenna Talling has been ruled out of the tournament after suffering a leg injury in last weekend's tournament opening win over Ireland. Bristol's 19-year-old rising star Demelza Short will make her debut in the back row, while Gloucester-Hartpury's Emma Sing, a long-range kicking option, comes in at full-back.
Kildunne's positional switch may give her quicksilver running skills more scope to shine out wide, but she will have to get to grips quickly with the different defensive demands of the role. Live on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website Scotland fly-half Helen Nelson, who ranks fourth highest for the number of kicks out of hand in the English top-flight, may well look to exploit space around Kildunne, while Rhona Lloyd, who will line up opposite Kildunne, has scored 11 league tries for Sale so far this season. "Emma Sing has been brilliant all season at full-back, so rightly she deserves the opportunity," said England defence coach Sarah Hunter.
"But obviously, Ellie's a world-class player and has that versatility to be able to play on the wing and the skill set to be able to play how we want. "It's pretty exciting to get two such in-form players playing alongside each other. "And Abi [Burton] is such a brilliant character that she's just gone 'alright, I'll put my head in there' "She will do anything for for an England shirt, and if that means going in the second row, that means going in the second row.
She's been brilliant. " Elsewhere prop Maud Muir wins her 50th cap for England as she starts at tighthead in place of Sarah Bern, who is part of a set of replacements which includes 112-cap Marlie Packer and Gloucester-Hartpury's Mia Venner. England are hunting their eighth successive Women's Six Nations title, but are attempting to maintain their streak without a host of names who helped them to the World Cup last year.
Number eight Alex Matthews will miss the meeting with Scotland with a shoulder injury, while earlier on Thursday it was announced that prop Hannah Botterman had joined those sidelined for the tournament with an ankle injury. "I think it's quite unheard of within an England squad over the years," said Hunter of the current glut of absences. "If we think about it, in a four-year cycle, it's almost good that we're having this situation now, that we can grow and develop some of the younger players coming through - it might be accelerating them a little bit.