Italy vs Scotland live: Under pressure Scots kick off Six Nations campaign with trip to Rome

Gregor Townsend has rewarded the strong form of a healthy Glasgow contingent, with a new-look back three named. Jamie Dobie and Kyle Steyn join Tom Jordan in the back three with Darcy Graham only on the bench, and no place at all in the squad for either Blair Kinghorn or Duhan van der Merwe.

Jack Dempsey is passed fit to feature at No 8, with the pack taking on a familiar look. Despite the versatility of Dobie and Jordan, Townsend opts for a traditional bench split, too.

Scotland XV: 1 Pierre Schoeman, 2 Ewan Ashman, 3 Zander Fagerson; 4 Scott Cummings, 5 Grant Gilchrist; 6 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 8 Jack Dempsey; 9 Ben White, 10 Finn Russell; 11 Jamie Dobie, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 13 Huw Jones, 14 Kyle Steyn; 15 Tom Jordan.

Replacements: 16 George Turner, 17 Nathan McBeth, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Gregor Brown; 21 George Horne, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Darcy Graham.

Captain Michele Lamaro is deployed at blindside flanker in Gonzalo Quesada’s Italy team, with Manuel Zuliani on the openside after an impressive 2025. Alessandro Fusco partners Paolo Garbisi in the halves while there is a rare start at full-back for the versatile Leonardo Martin, with all of Ange Capuozzo, Tommaso Allan, Edoardo Todaro and Jacopo Trulla absent due to injury.

It’s a five forwards to three backs bench split from Quesada. Stephen Varney misses out with a niggle.

Italy XV: 1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 3 Simone Ferrari; 4 Niccolo Cannone, 5 Andrea Zambonin; 6 Michele Lamaro (capt.), 7 Manuel Zuliani, 8 Lorenzo Cannone; 9 Alessandro Fusco, 10 Paolo Garbisi; 11 Monty Ioane, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 14 Louis Lynagh; 15 Leonardo Marin.

Replacements: 16 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Federico Ruzza, 20 Riccardo Favretto; 21 Alessandro Garbisi, 22 Giacomo Da Re, 23 Lorenzo Pani.

Right, kick off is little more than an hour away in Rome - let’s check in on the two teams...

Gregor Townsend dismissed claims that he has been primed to take over at Newcastle as an attempt to "disrupt" Scotland ahead of the Six Nations.

The 52-year-old last year took on a consultancy role with Red Bull, who own Newcastle.

It was reported on Thursday that Townsend will take charge of the Gallagher Prem club when his contract with Scotland expires after next year's World Cup in Australia.

"Well, it's pure speculation," the head coach said at a press conference in Edinburgh on Thursday after naming his team to face Italy.

Gonzalo Quesada is hoping that Italy can get over the line in the opener having pushed England close in their first fixture here two years ago.

Italy fell just short of a first-ever win over England in the 2024 Six Nations, and their head coach believes that experience stands them in good stead.

"When I think about the match against England two years ago, which we lost by a few points... it drove me crazy,” Quesda said. “There were so many positives in that match, but we could have won, and we didn't, even though the general atmosphere was happy with the game we played.

“Now we get to play Scotland, who have repeatedly stated their ambitions for the Six Nations, in a different light from the others' perspective. Today we can really think about competing against them, without any surprises.”

Northampton Saints defence coach Lee Radford is preparing for his first Six Nations since becoming part of Gregor Townsend's backroom staff in the autumn on secondment, and the Englishman believes they are equipped for a fruitful championship.

"We've been there or thereabouts for a long time," he said. "I think that next level is to knock some big ones off.

"Winning is a habit, once you knock a couple off I think that will do the world of good for the confidence.

"You've seen that with Glasgow on the run they're on at the moment but likewise, we're on one at Northampton as well.

"You just feel it around the place and I think it's important we get a couple of those results to be able to kick on to that next level.

"In every competition you go in, you want to win it. I don't like to go into a competition thinking we're just participating, that's been throughout anything I've ever done.

"We've got a good enough group to go somewhere in this comp.

"If we get our training right, we get our approach right, we get some luck - that's always helpful - who knows?"

Ben White believes three seasons in the Top 14 pressure cooker have made him better equipped for the demands of representing Scotland.

The 27-year-old scrum-half moved to Toulon from London Irish after the 2023 World Cup.

Reflecting ahead of Saturday's Guinness Six Nations opener in Italy on how he has evolved during his time in the south of France, White said: "It's been great for me.

"It's been an amazing experience. I love playing out in France. The Top 14 is a tough league, and it has different challenges to playing in other leagues. One of the biggest things that I've found playing in the Top 14 is that every game is a massive occasion.

"You're playing in front of sell-out crowds every week. There's so much pressure on the home team to win. You have that level of pressure that almost feels the same as a Test match, which is something that took me a bit of time to get used to.

"I feel that when I come back into the Scotland environment, I've been playing every week in high-pressure games where 'we must win, we must win' is the message.

"And that transfers and makes you feel more comfortable in those high-pressure environments, which they are when you're playing international rugby. So I feel it's prepared me really well."

For Ireland, meanwhile, it was a damaging night, revealing a few harsh truths about their decline.

France look like they will be mighty tough to stop, then, but is this the year for a true English title tilt? The Calcutta Cup next week feels like it could be troublesome for Steve Borthwick’s side, but 11 wins on the spin should become 12 later.

The Six Nations got underway on Thursday night with a surprisingly one-sided affair in Paris, with France unlocking a new dimension to put Ireland to the sword. It was quite the atmosphere au Stade, too.