Final Test.

Head Coach Gregor Townsend has made five changes to his Scotland team to start this Saturday’s final 2018 NatWest Six Nations Test against Italy in Rome.

Lion winger Tommy Seymour has recovered from the back injury that ruled him out of last weekend’s loss against Ireland, to replace Blair Kinghorn, who moves to the bench.

Glasgow Warriors centre Nick Grigg also comes into the backline for his first Six Nations start, alongside club mate Huw Jones, in place of Pete Horne who also joins the replacements.

Townsend has made three further changes to the pack, with hooker Fraser Brown, prop Willem Nel and lock Tim Swinson all promoted from the bench in place of Stuart McInally, Simon Berghan and Grant Gilchrist.

Scotland Head Coach, Gregor Townsend, said:

“We’ve had a deeper look at the Ireland game, where we performed well in areas that will have to be better this weekend.

“There were a number of positives in how we took the game to Ireland in attack and defence but this didn’t lead to us scoring enough points to win the game.

“We’ve been pleased with how the players have responded to last week’s disappointment, with the energy they have brought to training and a determination to improve our performance in our final match in this year’s NatWest 6 Nations.”

Scotland team to play Italy

15. Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 59 caps
14. Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 42 caps
13. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 15 caps
12. Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors) – 3 caps
11. Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 33 caps
10. Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 36 caps
9. Greig Laidlaw VICE CAPTAIN (Clermont Auvergne) – 62 caps

1. Gordon Reid (London Irish) – 31 caps
2. Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 30 caps
3. Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – 21 caps
4. Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 35 caps
5. Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 42 caps
6. John Barclay CAPTAIN (Scarlets) – 70 caps
7. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 19 caps
8. Ryan Wilson VICE CAPTAIN (Glasgow Warriors) – 36 caps

Replacements:
16. Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) – 16 caps
17. Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) – 7 caps
18. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 15 caps
19. Richie Gray (Toulouse) – 64 caps
20. David Denton (Worcester Warriors) – 38 caps
21. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 15 caps
22. Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 32 caps
23. Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) – 2 caps