Chiefs duo in Scotland squad

By Mark Stevens
10/3/22

Exeter Chiefs duo Stuart Hogg and Sam Skinner will both start for Scotland in their Guinness Six Nations Championship clash with Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday (2.15pm).

Fresh from helping the Chiefs to victory over Sale Sharks in the Gallagher Premiership, both form part of Gregor Townsend's squad which shows five changes to the team that were defeated against France last time out.

Those changes see Sam Johnson return following his start in the victory over England in round one of this year’s championship. Kyle Steyn makes his first start in the Guinness Six Nations having come off the bench against France in 2020.

The Glasgow Warriors winger marked his first Scotland start in style last year, scoring four tries in the Autumn Nations Series against Tonga.

In the forwards, Glasgow Warriors’ Matt Fagerson returns from injury to start at No.8. Fellow Edinburgh back-rower Hamish Watson is also named in the starting line-up having missed out against France and George Turner is added to the front-row.

Elsewhere, Glasgow Warriors’ scrum-half Ali Price is in line to make his 50th appearance for his country, while in the replacements Ben Vellacott is in line to make his debut. The scrum-half has been capped for Scotland Under-20s and joined Edinburgh Rugby this season following two years at Gloucester Rugby.

SCOTLAND TEAM TO FACE ITALY

15. Stuart Hogg - Exeter Chiefs - (Captain) - 91 caps
14. Darcy Graham - Edinburgh Rugby - 25 caps
13. Chris Harris - Gloucester Rugby - 34 caps
12. Sam Johnson - Glasgow Warriors - 22 caps
11. Kyle Steyn - Glasgow Warriors - 3 caps
10. Finn Russell - Racing 92 - 61 caps
9. Ali Price - Glasgow Warriors - 49 caps
1. Pierre Schoeman - Edinburgh Rugby -7 caps
2. George Turner - Glasgow Warriors - 23 caps
3. Zander Fagerson - Glasgow Warriors - 45 caps
4. Sam Skinner - Exeter Chiefs - 18 caps
5. Grant Gilchrist - Edinburgh Rugby - 51 caps
6. Rory Darge - Glasgow Warriors - 2 caps
7. Hamish Watson - Edinburgh Rugby - 47 caps
8. Matt Fagerson - Glasgow Warriors - 19 caps

Replacements

16. Stuart McInally - Edinburgh Rugby - 46 caps
17. Allan Dell - London Irish - 32 caps
18. WP Nel - Edinburgh Rugby - 46 caps
19. Jamie Hodgson - Edinburgh Rugby - 4 caps
20. Magnus Bradbury - Edinburgh Rugby - 17 caps
21. Ben Vellacott - Edinburgh Rugby - uncapped
22. Adam Hastings - Gloucester Rugby - 25 caps
23. Sione Tuipulotu - Glasgow Warriors - 4 caps