Steward has been virtually an ever-present under successive England regimes mainly because of his unrivalled ability under the high ball, yet he was jettisoned from the matchday 23 completely on Thursday after starting the opening two rounds.
With dry conditions expected in Edinburgh on Saturday, Furbank was included instead with the thinking that he will provide more of a cutting edge in attack with the ball in hand.Â
Still, it is a gamble because Furbank, who also can operate at five-eighth, has yet to convince in his six caps dating back to 2020.
The decision at No.15 is influenced by the return from injury of inside centre Ollie Lawrence, who offers England a heavy-duty ball-carrier capable of breaking tackles and drawing in defenders.
Furbank and Lawrence are two of five changes made by England coach Steve Borthwick, with Ellis Genge and Dan Cole coming into the front row in a rotation of the props and Danny Care promoted from the bench as a replacement for the injured Alex Mitchell.
George Martin was named on the bench ahead of what would be his first appearance since starring in the Rugby World Cup semi-final loss to South Africa in October. He has been out with a knee injury.
England have two wins from two, like Ireland, but face their toughest test against Scotland, who also have a changed fullback as Blair Kinghorn returns from a knee injury.
Kinghorn replaces Harry Paterson while former captain Jamie Ritchie, who was dropped from the squad for the loss to France, is back at blindside flanker as Matt Fagerson drops out.
Kyle Steyn was picked on the right wing ahead of Kyle Rowe.
