England pair Billy and Mako Vunipola on the bench as Eddie Jones starts Joe Marler and Nathan Hughes

Eddie Jones has named the most powerful bench ever seen for a rugby international for Saturday’s Six Nations clash against Scotland, with Billy and Mako Vunipola set to be unleashed onto tiring opponents as England bid to secure an 18th successive victory.

The eight “finishers”, as head coach Jones refers to his replacements, weigh a combined total of a ton.

Alongside the Vunipola brothers will be Jamie George, Kyle Sinckler, Tom Wood, Danny Care, Ben Te’o and Anthony Watson.

Billy has played just 72 minutes of rugby after nearly four months out following knee surgery, while Mako is only just back from his own knee injury.

Jones has decided to keep faith with Harlequins prop Joe Marler, who wins his 50th cap, and Nathan Hughes, the Wasps No8, who has found it tough to replicate his ball-carrying form at test level.

Jones had the option of starting both Vunipolas but believes Marler and Hughes deserve to start again, having filled in for the Saracens brothers during the championship.

The England camp insist the whiteboards controversy has not impacted on their preparations for the clash at Twickenham.

Pictures published earlier this week seemed to reveal the three changes to the team that beat Italy, with Billy pencilled in to start. But By starting the younger Vunipoloa on the bench, Jones is showing faith in Hughes, who is equally destructive as the Saracens star but has yet to show the kind of off-loading skills to compliment his raw power.

England team

(v Scotland, Saturday, Twickenham, 4pm)

15 Mike Brown

14 Jack Nowell

13 Jonathan Joseph

12 Owen Farrell

11 Elliot Daly

10 George Ford

9 Ben Youngs

1 Joe Marler

2 Dylan Hartley (c)

3 Dan Cole

4 Joe Launchbury

5 Courtney Lawes

6 Maro Itoje

7 James Haskell

8 Nathan Hughes

The choice of Marler to start his 50th international is also significant because the Harlequins prop acknowledges that Mako is setting the standards for all of the England front row forwards.

However, Marler remains a key figure in the England squad and his defensive work is just as important as his combative scrummaging and his milestone cap is testament to his improved mental strength and calmer outlook on life. A year ago he was banned for two weeks and fined £20,000 for calling Wales prop Samson Lee “gypsy boy” and received another two-week ban for kicking Grenoble’s Arnaud Heguy.

Less than two weeks before England departed for last summer’s historic 3-0 whitewash of Australia on their own soil, Marler withdrew from selection on the grounds that he did not feel mentally right to do credit to the shirt.

“I didn’t know how it was going to pan out and at that point I didn’t care. I had to make a judgment knowing that I may not get back in the squad again,” he said earlier in the Six Nations.

“But stepping away from rugby a little bit and making more effort with my family — realising that is my No 1 priority and the thing I enjoy most — helped me on the field. Doing less is more in that regard.”

Marler’s redemption has been based on hard work and getting his priorities right and he could join Vunipola on the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand this summer by continuing to deliver big performances against Scotland and Ireland, who England face in Dublin in the final Six Nations match on March 18.

Jones said: “I congratulate Joe Marler on his 50-cap milestone. I have coached a lot of good players and he is certainly one of the best. He is an honest and committed team man and a fine individual. To have him and Mako available together to give us 80 minutes at loose-head is an enormous advantage.”

Behind a pack that will attempt to bully the Scots, Jones has brought in Youngs to improve the team’s tactical kicking options and handed starts to Joseph, at outside-centre, and the hard-working Nowell, on the wing.