Townsend has five wins and a draw from his previous eight meetings with England, with Scotland losing out by a single point in London last year.
There are no Edinburgh players in the starting XV, while 10 come from United Rugby Championship leaders Glasgow Warriors.
Seven of Van der Merwe’s 35 Scotland tries have come against England, including a hat-trick the last time they met at Murrayfield in 2024.
“There are reasons we selected that backline and bench going into Italy and it’s the same reasons going into England,” explained Townsend.
“We weren’t able to play as well as a backline given the weather and opportunities at the start of the game.
“What the back three did in the kicking battle was excellent and how they have been training is superb so we’ve backed them again this week.”
Adam Hastings was an unused substitute against Italy and Townsend was quizzed about going for the same bench split.
“Adam covers 10, so it’s someone we know can focus on that role during the week and he has been playing very well,” he said.
“There are gambles going 6-2 with limited cover. We think the weather is going to be dry so there is more opportunity for backs coming on to have an influence.
“You go into the game with expectations of using the bench but if you don’t need to – if players are playing well and there are no injuries – then at times people don’t come off the pitch.”
England started the tournament by thumping Wales 48-7 at Twickenham, making it 12 successive Test victories.
