RICHARD Blaze and Nick Runciman have been retained in the England Under 21 side for their trip to Scotland.

Second-row Blaze and scrum-half Runciman will be in the party that will travel to Falkirk Stadium next Friday.

England National Academy coaches Jim Mallinder and Dorian West have called up two additional players. Newcastle Falcons fly-half Toby Flood returns to the squad following an injury and newcomer Nick Abendanon of Bath gets his chance having proved his fitness in the Guinness 'A' league since returning from injury last December.

Mallinder said: "Toby and Nick have always been in our long-term plans for this year's squad and we're delighted that both are back to full fitness and able to join us in time for this game.

"We were happy with the way things went against Italy but there are still areas that we need to improve and we're looking forward to working on those next week." he added.

"Scotland beat us at Northampton last year so we know it's going to be a tough contest taking them on their own turf.

But we'll be looking to take another step forward to redress the balance."

England are still in contention for the Grand Slam after they beat Wales at Sixways and followed that with victory in Italy last week.

Blaze has been on the fringes of the Warriors first team all season but Runciman is still waiting to make his senior competitive bow.