Cam Redpath, Andy Christie and George Horne all start in Rome for the penultimate round of Scotland’s 2024 Guinness Six Nations.
Elsewhere the starting XV is largely unchanged with Townsend opting for a 6/2 bench split allowing Matt Fagerson to return to the playing squad alongside Jamie Ritchie.
Not sure who we’ll be relying on if a late drop goal is required…
Aiming to engineer that sort of tough, tight game where Scotland’s will might break in the face of a sellout Italian crowd in the dying minutes, Gonzalo Quesada has named a strong team – possibly the strongest ever, with both backlines at near full strength. On the wing there will be a debut cap for (son of Michael) Louis Lynagh.
Italy: Ange Capuozzo, Louis Lynagh, Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Monty Ioane, Paolo Garbisi, Martin Page-Relo; Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera, Simone Ferrari, Niccolò Cannone, Federico Ruzza, Sebastian Negri, Michele Lamaro (capt), Ross Vintcent.
Replacements: Gianmarco Lucchesi, Mirco Spagnolo, Giosuè Zilocchi, Andrea Zambonin, Lorenzo Cannone, Stephen Varney, Leonardo Marin, Federico Mori.
Scotland: Blair Kinghorn, Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Cameron Redpath, Duhan van der Merwe, Finn Russell, George Horne; Pierre Schoeman, George Turner, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Scott Cummings, Andy Christie, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Alec Hepburn, Elliot Millar-Mills, Sam Skinner, Jamie Ritchie, Matt Fagerson, Ali Price, Kyle Rowe