Townsend rests White in Rome
SCRUM-HALF Ben White has been dropped from the Scotland squad to face Italy in the Six Nations tomorrow, with Glasgow Warriors’ George Horne handed a surprise start in Rome.
Gregor Townsend’s men will be looking for their third win of the tournament in the Eternal City on Saturday after recording victories against Wales and England as well as a narrow loss to France.
Centre Cameron Redpath also comes into the starting 15 in place of the injured Sione Tuipulotu, while Saracens’ back row Andy Christie is given his first Scotland start in place of former captain Jamie Ritchie, who is among the replacements.
There are also returns for scrumhalf Ali Price, back-rower Matt Fagerson and wing Kyle Rowe who make the bench. Scotland have won their past 13 meetings with Italy but Gonzalo Quesada’s men will be looking to clinch their first victory of the campaign after a heartbreaking draw against France that came down to the final kick of the match.
Townsend reflected on Italy running Scotland to the wire at Murrayfield last year as he insisted the fixture at a sold-out Stadio Olimpico will be a stern test for his players. He said: “It’s a really big test for us. Playing in Italy is always a challenge – the atmosphere and passion the Italians bring is unique.
“Italy have been building over the last two years with some great performances. We experienced that at Murrayfield last year when they pushed us right to the last minute. They did similar in their game against France. They know this will be a massive opportunity being back at home for the last time in this Six Nations.”
Redpath made a significant contribution in the win over England as he burst through a scattered defensive line before offloading to his Bath teammate Finn Russell, who then set up Duhan Van Der Merwe for his hat-trick.
And Townsend said he’s looking forward to seeing more of what the Redpath and Russell axis can deliver.
“It’s obviously disappointing news Sione is injured, he’s been a key part of our team.
“But Cam is someone who has been in really good form in training and when he’s had the opportunity this year.
“His connection with Finn from club level should mean that cohesion we’ve built up is still there even though we’ve made that change.”
On the changes at scrum-half, Townsend added: “[We wanted] to reward both George and Ali who have been in very good form with us and with their clubs and also to give Ben a rest. He’s played a lot of rugby since September/October, so we feel he needs a recharge this week.”
Townsend said he felt Christie had “earned the right to start” against Italy after impressing off the bench in attack and defence in the last two games.
However, they will also need England to do them a favour against Andy Farrell’s team at Twickenham given that if Ireland come away with a bonus-point victory themselves, the championship will be theirs with a weekend to spare.
Team to play Italy: Backs – Kinghorn, Steyn, Jones, Redpath, Van der Merwe, Russell, Horne; Forwards – Schoeman, Turner, Fagerson, Gilchrist, Cummings, Christie, Darge, Dempsey; Replacements – Ashman, Hepburn, Millar-Mills, Skinner, Ritchie, Fagerson, Price, Rowe.