Head Coach Vern Cotter has refined his Scotland squad ahead of this Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations match against Italy in Rome, with the return of 6 players to Glasgow Warriors.
Props Gordon Reid and Zander Fagerson, loose forwards Rob Harley and Josh Strauss and halfbacks Grayson Hart and Duncan Weir, all returned to club training today, ahead of tomorrow night’s (Thursday) Guinness PRO12 game against Dragons in Newport.
Cotter will select and announce a final 23-man team to travel to Rome tomorrow morning (Thursday).
Match Preview:
Scotland and Italy will lock horns in the Eternal City of Rome, in Round 3 of the RBS 6 Nations Championship on Saturday 27 February.
Both sides are winless in the current campaign, Scotland ranked above the Azzurri in the Championship table by virtue of superior points’ difference (-10 vs -33), with a total of 10 points separating the Scots from England and Wales, in Rounds 1 and 2.
Italy too have fallen foul of the narrow defeat, having competed valiantly with France in the opening fixture, only to go down by just 2 points in Paris (23 / 21).
They looked set to do the same dance with England in their 2nd fixture – at home this time – as they went in just 2 points shy at the interval (11 / 9), but conceded 29 unanswered points in a disappointing 2nd half showing.
Head to head:
Scotland and Italy have met 25 times in all, Scotland winning 17, including the 2 most recent fixtures that saw the Scots secure a home (48 / 7) and away (16 / 14) double in preparation for Rugby World Cup 2015.
Honours are even in the past 2 RBS 6 nations meetings however, with the away side taking the spoils – Italy securing victory at the death at BT Murrayfield last year, and an inspired Duncan Weir drop goal doing likewise in Rome the year prior (2014).
Duncan Weir’s Winning Drop Goal in Italy in 2014:
EXTENDED SCOTLAND SQUAD FOR 2016 RBS 6 NATIONS – ROUND 3:
FORWARDS (16):
John Barclay (Scarlets), David Denton (Bath), Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors), Richie Gray (Castres), John Hardie (Edinburgh), Moray Low (Exeter Chiefs), Stuart McInally, WP Nel, George Turner, Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh) Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors), Ben Toolis (Edinburgh), Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors), Hamish Watson (Edinburgh).
BACKS (12):
Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors), Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh), Stuart Hogg, Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors) Ruaridh Jackson (Wasps), Greig Laidlaw (Captain – Gloucester), Sean Lamont, Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors), Matt Scott (Edinburgh), Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors), Duncan Taylor (Saracens), Tim Visser (Harlequins).
thescotlandteam
1 change to Scotland starting line up since the test against Wales, Tim Visser back at wing in place of Sean Lamont, quite a few changes on the bench:
15 Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 40 caps; 9 tries, 2 pens, 51 points
14 Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 24 caps; 12 tries, 60 points
13 Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors) – 15 caps; 6 tries, 30 points
12 Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 14 caps; 1 try, 5 points
11 Tim Visser (Harlequins) – 23 caps; 10 tries, 50 points
10 Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 17 caps; 2 tries, 3 cons, 1 pen, 19 points
9 Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN (Gloucetser) – 48 caps; 4 tries, 58 cons, 110 pens, 466 points
1 Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 54 caps; 2 tries, 10 points
2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) – 96 caps; 2 tries, 10 points
3 Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – 10 caps; 1 try, 5 points
4 Richie Gray (Castres) – 53 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
5 Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 21 caps; 1 try, 5 points
6 John Barclay (Scarlets) – 47 caps; 3 tries, 15 points
7 John Hardie (Edinburgh Rugby) – 7 caps; 2 tries, 10 points
8 David Denton (Bath Rugby) – 34 caps
Substitutes
16 Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) – 4 caps
17 Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh Rugby) – uncapped
18 Moray Low (Exeter Chiefs) – 29 caps
19 Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps
20 Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 15 caps
21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh Rugby) – 9 caps
22 Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 15 caps, 2 tries, 1 con, 1 pen, 15 points
23 Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors) – 102 caps; 14 tries, 40 points