Finn Russell is ruled out for Scotland after suffering concussion in the defeat by Ireland, which sees Stuart Hogg starting at No 10 for the first time, alongside Scott Steele of Harlequins at scrum-half. There are seven changes overall for Scotland: Darcy Graham starts on the wing, Sean Maitland switches to full-back and Huw Jones, who scored a spectacular try after coming off the bench last week, lines up at outside-centre. David Cherry makes his first start for Scotland at hooker, Zander Fagerson returns at tighthead prop, and there’s also an all-new second row pairing of Sam Skinner and Grant Gilchrist.
Four changes for Italy with Edoardo Padovani, Federico Mori, Federico Ruzza and Marco Riccioni coming into the starting XV.
Scotland: Sean Maitland; Darcy Graham; Huw Jones, Sam Johnson; Duhan Van der Merwe; Stuart Hogg, Scott Steele; Rory Sutherland, David Cherry, Zander Fagerson; Sam Skinner, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Matt Fagerson. Replacements: George Turner, Jamie Bhatti, Simon Berghan, Alex Craig, Nick Haining, Ali Price, Jaco Van der Walt, Chris Harris.
Italy: Edoardo Padovani; Mattia Bellini, Juan Ignacio Brex, Federico Mori, Montana Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney; Danilo Fischetti, Luca Bigi (captain), Marco Riccioni, Niccolo Cannone, Federico Ruzza, Sebastian Negri, Johan Meyer, Michele Lamaro. Replacements: Gianmarco Lucchesi, Andrea Lovotti, Giosuè Zilocchi, Riccardo Favretto, Maxime Mbanda, Marcello Violi, Carlo Canna, Marco Zanon.
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