Hogg starts for Scotland in Rome
By Mark Stevens
19/2/20
Exeter Chiefs full-back Stuart Hogg will skipper a Scotland team that shows three changes aheaf of their Guinness Six Nations Championship clash with Italy at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Saturday (2.15pm)
Edinburgh forwards Stuart McInally and Ben Toolis, together with Gloucester centre Chris Harris, have all been promoted from the bench for their first starts of the 2020 campaign.
Hooker McInally swaps places with Glasgow Warriors’ Fraser Brown, who moves to the bench, while second-row Toolis comes in for the injured Jonny Gray. Harris has been selected ahead of Huw Jones, who drops out of the 23-man squad. Sale wing Byron McGuigan takes Harris’s place on the bench.
Hogg's Exeter team-mate, Sam Skinner, called up by head coach Gregor Townsend earlier in the week, has been released from camp and is now expected to be part of the Chiefs squad for Sunday's Gallagher Premiership encounter at home to Northampton Saints (1pm).
Townsend said: “We believe Chris and Stuart deserve this opportunity. They were very close to the starting 15 when we entered this campaign. We think this is the right time for them to come in.
“Chris has been excellent for Gloucester this season and has continued to make improvements since the summer. He works very hard on both sides of the ball, which will be important this week.
“Stuart has shown over the past few weeks he’s back to full fitness and is raring to go and Ben gets an opportunity to start following Jonny’s injury against England. Second row is a position [where] we have a lot of competition with a number of very good players available for selection. We’re looking forward to seeing how he combines again with Scott [Cummings] after a successful outing together against Russia in the World Cup.”
Scotland and Italy have both yet to win a match in this season’s Six Nations, Scotland losing to Ireland and England, while Italy suffered away defeats to Wales and France.
“Italy are always a very tough opponent, especially in Rome, where we know they’ll look to play with a huge amount of energy,” Townsend said. “It’s a different Italy team to the one we’ve played in the past. In their opening two games of the Championship they have played with real ambition and width.
“They’ve also selected athletic ball players who suit this strategy and are comfortable playing at a high tempo. We are well aware of the threats throughout their team and how their attacking game can cause problems for any defence.”
The sides go into the round three Guinness Six Nations match smarting from opening round defeats – Scotland succumbing to Ireland and England in Dublin and Edinburgh, while Italy’s losses to Wales and France came on the road, meaning this Saturday’s Test is their first of the championship on home soil.
Scotland have won 22 of the 30 Tests between the nations but the odds are more evenly stacked when they meet in Italy, with the contests level on six apiece thanks to a recent run of four consecutive away wins for the Scots.
Townsend said: “Italy are always a very tough opponent, especially in Rome, where we know they’ll look to play with a huge amount of energy.
“It’s a different Italy team to the one we’ve played in the past. In their opening two games of the championship they have played with real ambition and width.
“They’ve also selected athletic, ball players who suit this strategy and are comfortable playing at a high tempo. We are well aware of the threats throughout their team and how their attacking game can cause problems for any defence.”
Scotland team to play Italy
15. Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs, capt, 74 caps)
14. Sean Maitland (Saracens, 46 caps)
13. Chris Harris (Gloucester, 16 caps)
12. Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors, 11 caps)
11. Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh, 19 caps)
10. Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors, 18 caps)
9. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors, 30 caps)
1. Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh, 5 caps)
2. Stuart McInally (Edinburgh, 35 caps)
3. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors, 27 caps)
4. Ben Toolis (Edinburgh, 24 caps)
5. Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors, 10 caps)
6. Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh, 16 caps)
7. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh, 30 caps)
8. Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh, 12 caps)
16. Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors, 48 caps)
17. Allan Dell (London Irish, 30 caps)
18. Willem Nel (Edinburgh, 36 caps)
19. Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh, 40 caps)
20. Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors, 5 caps)
21. George Horne (Glasgow Warriors, 11 caps)
22. Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints, 4 caps)
23. Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks, 9 caps)