Scotland head coach Vern Cotter is wary of a physical Italian test as he welcomes the Azzurri to Murrayfield in search of a maiden Six Nations victory.

Cotter has charged Peter Horne with the task of filling Finn Russell’s No 10 shirt – one of 4 changes from the side that lost 23 / 26 to Wales 2 weeks ago.

And he expects the Glasgow Warriors utility man to step up to the plate and help an ever-improving Scotland side turn promising performances into a result.

“Peter gets the nods through his experience and through his recent games at first five with Glasgow,” said Cotter ahead of Saturday’s clash.

“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.”

Cotter makes 3 other changes to the squad, with second row Tim Swinson coming in for Richie Gray who picked up an arm injury against Wales.

Wing Tommy Seymour and prop Euan Murray are preferred to Tim Visser and Geoff Cross respectively while Cotter has also made a number of changes to the replacements.

Edinburgh duo Ben Toolis and Hamish Watson are poised to make their debuts from the bench as injured lock Jim Hamilton and back row Alasdair Strokosch miss out.

Scrumhalf Sam Hidalgo-Clyne is also on the bench as props Ryan Grant and Geoff Cross come in for injured pair Gordon Reid and Jon Welsh.

Scotland have looked in good form, despite losing both their opening Six Nations encounters narrowly, 8 / 15 to France in Paris before the Wales clash at Murrayfield.

Last year’s encounter between these sides finished a nail-biting 21 / 20 to Scotland in Rome and Cotter’s men are hunting a fourth successive victory over Italy, a feat they have not achieved since August 2003.

Italy coach Jacques Brunel is also ringing in the changes, bringing in 2 debutants as he makes 6 alterations to the side beaten by England last time out.

Toulon prop Martin Castrogiovanni will be a crushing loss to the Italian forward line after he was bitten by a dog and required 14 stitches this week.

He is replaced by Dario Chistolini, while wing Michele Visentin and centre Enrico Bacchin come into the side.

Visentin is preferred to Leonardo Sarto while Bacchin wins his first cap following an injury to London Wasps’ Andrea Masi.

Newcastle Falcons lock Joshua Furno comes in following a muscular injury to Marco Bortolami and Sale Sharks prop Alberto De Marchi is benched to make way for Matias Aguero and flank Simone Favaro returns in place of the experienced Mauro Bergamasco.

Like Scotland, the Saturday’s visitors are seeking their first win of this season’s Six Nations campaign following their 3 / 26 defeat by Ireland in Rome, and 17 / 47 to England at Twickenham.

“Scotland is a team that we have struggled to beat in recent years,” said Brunel.

“They have also lost their opening two games but not by a big margin.

“They were in the game against France and they dominated against Wales but then had problems.

“They don’t seem to have major weaknesses. It’s going to be a difficult game, but I expect a lot more from my team.”

Players to watch:

For Scotland: Peter Horne will have big boots to fill with Finn Russel suspended, Russel has been in fine form and they will be hoping Horne can carry on his performance. Stuart Hogg is arguably one of Scotland’s best players, the British and Irish Lion always looks threatening and should do well against an average Italian defence.

For Italy: Sergio Parisse is then arguably Italy’s best player and is always a good player to watch as he tries to gear up his players. The veteren Leonardo Ghiraldini should calm down the pack with the absence of tighthead Martin Castrogiovani.

Head to head:

The Scottish back division has been impressive, especially when their forwards are able to dominate. In saying that, the biggest head to head battle will acctually be the grizzled Italian forwards against the silky Scottish backs with Vern Cotter already stating he is expecting a big test from the Italian pack. Should the Scottish forwards at least match the Italians then the back will be able to get through their work with ease.

Recent results:

• 2014: Scotland won 21 / 20, Rome
• 2013: Scotland won 30 / 29, Pretoria (South African quadrangular tournament)
• 2013: Scotland won 34 / 10, Edinburgh
• 2012: Italy won 13 / 6, Rome
• 2011: Scotland won 23 / 12, Edinburgh (World Cup warm-up)
• 2011: Scotland won 21 / 8, Edinburgh
• 2010: Italy won 16 / 12, Rome
• 2009: Scotland won 26 / 6, Edinburgh
• 2008: Italy won 23 / 20, Rome
• 2007: Scotland won 18 / 16, Saint-Étienne (World Cup 2007)

Prediction:

Usually in the Six Nations these two countries look forward to this match as a chance to pick up probably their only win either way, however, this year it may be a little different. Scotland have looked a new team under Vern Cotter whereas Italy look to be the same as last year – wooden spoon contenders. Scotland should take this by more than 10 points.

Teams:

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Greig Laidlaw (Captain), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson
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.

Italy: 15 Luke McLean, 14 Michele Visentin, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Enrico Bacchin, 11 Giovambattista Venditti, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (Captain), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 George Biagi, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Matias Aguero
Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Samuela Vunisa, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Giulio Bisegni.

Date: Saturday 28 February
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-Off: 16:30 SA Time (14:30 BST & GMT, 15:30 Italian Time)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (France), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)

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