Scotland team to play Italy: Three changes made for Six Nations Rome clash
Scotland have made three changes to their starting XV for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations clash with Italy in Rome.
George Horne, the Glasgow Warriors scrum-half, comes into the side to replace Ben White who is not part of the match-day 23. It will be Horne’s first start in a Six Nations match.
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Hide AdAs expected, Cameron Redpath is named at inside centre, replacing Sione Tuipulotu who was injured in the win over England last month. Redpath impressed off the bench in the 30-21 at Murrayfield and earns his first start of this year’s championship. The other change is in the back row, with Andy Christie selected ahead of Jamie Ritchie who drops to the bench. Christie, the Saracens flanker, played as a replacement against France and England but this will be his first start for Scotland.
There are four changes on the bench, with head coach Gregor Townsend opting for a six-two split of forwards and backs. Matt Fagerson comes back into the squad and joins Ritchie in providing back-row cover. The two backs on the bench are scrum-half Ali Price and wing Kyle Rowe. Ben Healy drops out of the 23.
Regarding the scrum-half situation, Townsend said he wanted to reward Horne and Price for their recent form and he also felt that White was due a rest after playing a lot of rugby since the World Cup.
Scotland go into the fourth-round match in Rome with an outside chance of still claiming the Six Nations title. But they would almost certainly need England to beat Ireland on Saturday to take things into a final-day showdown in Dublin where Ireland will host the Scots on March 16.
Scotland team to face Italy at Stadio Olimpico, Rome, on Saturday March 9, kick-off 2.15pm GMT, live on ITV/STV: 15. Blair Kinghorn; 14. Kyle Steyn, 13. Huw Jones, 12. Cameron Redpath, 11. Duhan van der Merwe; 10. Finn Russell (co-captain), 9. George Horne; 1. Pierre Schoeman, 2. George Turner, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Grant Gilchrist (vice-captain), 5. Scott Cummings, 6. Andy Christie, 7. Rory Darge (co-captain), 8. Jack Dempsey. Replacements: 16. Ewan Ashman, 17. Alec Hepburn, 18. Elliot Millar-Mills, 19. Sam Skinner, 20. Jamie Ritchie, 21. Matt Fagerson, 22. Ali Price, 23. Kyle Rowe.