Italy take on Scotland in the Guinness Six Nations in Rome on Saturday, and there is Gloucester Rugby involvement on both sides with Chris Harris starting for Scotland and Callum Braley and Jake Polledri for Italy.
Harris has been used as a replacement so far for Scotland in the tournament but has earned his chance according to Head Coach Gregor Townsend.
"We believe Chris and Stuart (McInally)deserve this opportunity," he said. "They were very close to the starting XV when we entered this campaign.
"Chris has been excellent for Gloucester this season and has continued to make improvements since the summer. He works very hard on both sides of the ball, which will be important this week.”
Meanwhile, Braley and Polledri have started both Italy’s fixtures to date and are retained in Franco Smith’s line-up.
Scotland:
Hogg (capt); Maitland, Harris, Johnson, Kinghorn; Hastings, Price; Sutherland, McInally, Fagerson, Cummings, Toolis, Ritchie, Watson, Bradbury
Replacements:
Brown, Dell, Nel, Gilchrist, Fagerson, Horne, Hutchinson, McGuigan
Italy:
Hayward; Bellini; Morisi, Canna, Minozzi; Allan, Braley; Lovotti, Bigi, Zilocchi; Zanni, Cannone; Polledri, Negri, Steyn
Replacements:
Zani, Fischetti, Riccioni, Lazzaroni, Budd, Licata, Palazzani, Bisegni
Harris has been used as a replacement so far for Scotland in the tournament but has earned his chance according to Head Coach Gregor Townsend.
"We believe Chris and Stuart (McInally)deserve this opportunity," he said. "They were very close to the starting XV when we entered this campaign.
"Chris has been excellent for Gloucester this season and has continued to make improvements since the summer. He works very hard on both sides of the ball, which will be important this week.”
Meanwhile, Braley and Polledri have started both Italy’s fixtures to date and are retained in Franco Smith’s line-up.
Scotland:
Hogg (capt); Maitland, Harris, Johnson, Kinghorn; Hastings, Price; Sutherland, McInally, Fagerson, Cummings, Toolis, Ritchie, Watson, Bradbury
Replacements:
Brown, Dell, Nel, Gilchrist, Fagerson, Horne, Hutchinson, McGuigan
Italy:
Hayward; Bellini; Morisi, Canna, Minozzi; Allan, Braley; Lovotti, Bigi, Zilocchi; Zanni, Cannone; Polledri, Negri, Steyn
Replacements:
Zani, Fischetti, Riccioni, Lazzaroni, Budd, Licata, Palazzani, Bisegni