Saturday 28 February 2015 14:20, UK
Scotland coach Vern Cotter has named Peter Horne at fly-half for Saturday’s Six Nations clash against Italy at Murrayfield.
The Glasgow Warriors’ stand-off replaces Finn Russell who is suspended after his appeal against a two-match ban for a dangerous tackle on Wales' Dan Biggar was overruled.
Horne is one of four changes to the starting side with second-row Tim Swinson taking over from injured Richie Gray who picked up an arm injury against the Welsh at Murrayfield.
Wing Tommy Seymour and prop Euan Murray return in place of Tim Visser and Geoff Cross while Cotter has made a number of changes on the bench.
Among the replacements are promising Edinburgh duo Ben Toolis and Hamish Watson who are poised to make their senior international debuts having taken the places of injured lock Jim Hamilton and back-row Alasdair Strokosch.
Replacement scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne is back after suffering concussion against Wales, with props Ryan Grant and Cross taking over from the injured pair Gordon Reid and Jon Welsh.
Cotter said: "We're very wary of Italy and feel that they have improved. They are a team that will be targeting this game, so we must be prepared to roll our sleeves up and work very hard to get a result.
"They are a big, physical team – bigger than us – so we will have to be technically strong and well-connected as a group to withstand what will be a strong assault on our defensive line.
"We have youth and experience in this group of players and when we look at our performances, we've improved from one week to the next, so that's positive.”
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 1 Alasdair Dickinson, 2 Ross Ford, 3 Euan Murray, 4 Tim Swinson, 5 Jonny Gray, 6 Rob Harley, 7 Blair Cowan, 8 Johnnie Beattie
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Ben Toolis, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Greig Tonks, 23 Matt Scott.
