Gregor Townsend warns of changes for Italy match as he looks beyond current Scotland squad

After back-to-back defeats Gregor Townsend has warned his players he is likely to make changes for Scotland’s next Six Nations match against Italy in Rome on 12 March.

Saturday’s 36-17 loss to France at BT Murrayfield effectively ended the Scots’ title hopes after three rounds of the championship.

A campaign that began so promisingly with a win over England has been derailed by losses to first Wales and then France.

Townsend will now cast his net wider for players for the game at the Stadio Olimpico, although he dismissed suggestions he could field a weakened team against the Six Nations’ bottom side.

“[I’m] probably looking for my strongest fifteen,” said the Scotland coach. “We will look at everybody in terms of performance [against France] who have put their hands up for selection, who is under pressure, because there are players outside our squad who are doing well so we have two weeks to assess that.”

Players not in the original squad who could come into contention include centres Rory Hutchinson and Huw Jones, hooker Fraser Brown and stand-off Adam Hastings. Scotland played the last 20 minutes against France with Blair Kinghorn at ten after Townsend took off Finn Russell.

“We know we have to put our best team out and put on our best performance to win in Italy,” added the coach. “They will be hugely motivated by our scoreline and France getting tries from our errors.

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend will look at players outside the squad for the Italy game. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

“So, we will have to play a lot better next week to win that game.”

A message from the Editor: Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.