Peter Horne will replace the suspended Finn Russell in one of four changes to the Scotland side to face Italy in Edinburgh on Saturday.
Russell will miss the match after his appeal was overruled by a Six Nations disciplinary committee on Wednesday. There is one further change to the backline, where Tommy Seymour comes in on the wing in place of Tim Visser.
Meanwhile, there are two changes to the pack, where British & Irish Lions prop Euan Murray returns at tighthead, while TIm Swinson replaces the injured Richie Gray in the second row.
'We're very wary of Italy and feel 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,' said coach Vern Cotter.
'We're very focused on what we do and what we want to achieve, which is to apply pressure that yields points, create line breaks and tackle breaks and develop our speed in this game.'
Scotland – 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Mark Bennett, 11 Tommy Seymour, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Rob Harley, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Subs: 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.
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
