Scotland's George Horne and Andy Christie calls explained as Gregor Townsend asked England support poser

Head coach decides White needs a rest after glut of rugby for club and country

Gregor Townsend has backed George Horne to bring the best out of Scotland against Italy on Saturday after giving Ben White the week off “to recharge”.

Horne’s selection at scrum-half is the most eye-catching of three changes made by Townsend to his starting XV for the match in Rome as the Scots attempt to keep alive their slim Six Nations title hopes. The Glasgow Warriors half-back will win his 29th cap this weekend but has started only three times previously for Scotland, the last occasion being the 2019 World Cup match against Russia in Japan. Horne scored a hat-trick that day, a good omen perhaps for Saturday.

Townsend believes he has earned his chance due to his outstanding form for Glasgow over the last couple of campaigns. He was the club’s player of the season last year as he edged out Ali Price to become first-choice scrum-half. Price, who has since moved to Edinburgh, will be on the bench against Italy as White is rested. Horne, 28, now has the opportunity to influence a game from the start after substitute appearances in the wins over Wales and England last month.

George Horne has been selected at No 9 for Scotland against Italy on Saturday.

“George has performed a role for us off the bench really well – he brings energy and skill and he's very competitive – but he's been a starter for Glasgow for the last two seasons so we're very confident he can deliver a performance that brings out the best in him and others,” said the Scotland coach. “And also having Ali, who is playing more rugby than ever at Edinburgh, on the bench shows we can change our game and bring on experience in the second half.”

Townsend expressed concern about the amount of rugby played by White recently and takes the opportunity to give the Toulon No 9 the week off. Unlike other members of the squad, White has been playing for his club in France on the free weekends during the Six Nations and has not had a week off since October.

“We feel he needs a week to recharge,” said the coach. “He’s still working – he did a session on Wednesday – but the focus for him is recovery. He’s had a couple of injuries too. He was doubtful for the Wales game with a shoulder that he injured on the Sunday night playing for Toulon. There are a lot of challenges for players that are playing [for their clubs] during the Six Nations.

“The way he trains too – he puts everything into it, like all our nines. We would have had a decision to make – it was ‘OK Ben, we feel you need to have a recharge week’, but we also need the team to train together. We don’t have a lot of training sessions. So that was the decision we made. And the confidence that we have in the other two – the other two have played for us over the last five years. Ali has been a starter for us and for the Lions, George has been excellent off the bench but gets this opportunity to start. So we’d hope next week that all three nines are fit and available and Ben is in a really good position to have a full training week.”

Gregor Townsend and Blair Kinghorn share a laugh during Scotland training.

As expected, Cam Redpath comes into the team at inside centre in place of the injured Sione Tuipulotu. There is also a change in the back row, with Andy Christie picked to make his first start for Scotland as Jamie Ritchie drops to the bench. Christie is the fourth different player to be selected in the No 6 jersey across Scotland’s four Six Nations matches this season. Matt Fagerson and Jamie Ritchie, who played at six against France and England respectively, are both among the replacements as Townsend opts for a six-two split of forwards and backs on the bench. He believes Christie is ideally suited to start this match.

“We feel with the way this game could potentially be played, more ball in play, getting ball-carriers into play as much as possible, that's what Andy brings,” said Townsend. “It was a different opposition and a different game against England but we've gone for a six-two split as well so we know our forwards are going to be worked and the energy the subs bring on is going to be crucial.”

Scotland go into the third-round fixture lying second in the Six Nations standings on nine points, six behind Ireland. They need to win in Rome and hope England beat Ireland at Twickenham in the later game on Saturday to have any realistic hope of keeping their championship hopes alive going into the final weekend when the Scots travel to Dublin for a potential title showdown.

Asked if he would be supporting England this weekend, Townsend demurred. “Probably not,” said the coach. “I’ll just be analysing Ireland, there’s no cheering. I’ll be quickly looking at the latest iteration of Ireland. I’ve watched their first three games and then our heads quickly turn to our next opponents so we’ll be watching that game and how we can play against Ireland the following week.”