Full-back Ollie Smith, utility again fly-half Blair Kinghorn, lock Sam Skinner change injured trio Stuart Hogg (ankle), Finn Russell (knee), Richie Grey (unspecified damage) for Scotland vs Italy in Spherical 5 Six Nations match at Murrayfield; Hamish Watson recalled to begin at openside
Final Up to date: 16/03/23 10:54am
Blair Kinghorn has returned to begin for Scotland at No 10 vs Italy within the Six Nations, with Finn Russell out injured
Gregor Townsend has made 4 adjustments to his Scotland aspect to face Italy of their Six Nations finale conflict, with key males Stuart Hogg, Finn Russell and Richie Grey dominated out injured, and Blair Kinghorn beginning at 10.
A knee damage guidelines Russell out with Kinghorn coming in, whereas Ollie Smith begins at full-back for his third Check cap rather than Hogg (ankle).
Second-row Richie Grey limped off early in opposition to Eire with an unspecified knock, which sees Sam Skinner known as up and into the beginning XV.
The fourth change sees Hamish Watson return to begin at openside flanker, with skipper Jamie Ritchie shifting again to blindside and Matt Fagerson dropping to the bench.
Ollie Smith begins at full-back for under his third Scotland Check cap
The replacements bench sees quite a lot of alterations, with all three front-rows modified: hooker Ewan Ashman, loosehead Rory Sutherland, tighthead WP Nel are available for Fraser Brown, Jamie Bhatti and Simon Berghan respectively.
Munster’s uncapped Ben Healy – Tipperary-born however Scottish-qualified – comes onto the bench, as does Bathtub centre Cameron Redpath, with Chris Harris dropping out of the squad.
Sam Skinner is available in to begin within the second row with Richie Grey out
Smith combines with wings Kyle Steyn and Duhan van der Merwe to kind the back-three, whereas the centre partnership is unchanged in Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu.
Scrum-half Ben White begins alongside Kinghorn at half-back, whereas the beginning front-row is unchanged: Pierre Schoeman at loosehead, George Turner at hooker, and Zander Fagerson at tighthead.
Hamish Watson is recalled to begin within the back-row at openside flanker
Jonny Grey companions Skinner at second row, with Jack Dempsey finishing the back-row at No 8 alongside Ritchie and Watson.
Scotland: 15 Ollie Smith, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Blair Kinghorn, 9 Ben White; 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 George Turner, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Sam Skinner, 5 Jonny Grey, 6 Jamie Ritchie (c), 7 Hamish Watson, 8 Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 WP Nel, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 Ali Value, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Cameron Redpath.