Maitland named in Scotland squad for Italy trip

Sean Maitland has been named in the starting line-up for Scotland's third round Six Nations tie with Italy.

The Saracens winger will earn his 47th international cap when he runs out at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome as he retains his place in the back three alongside Stuart Hogg and Blair Kinghorn.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has made three changes to the starting XV for this weekend's clash with Stuart McInally (hooker), Ben Toolis (second-row) and Chris Harris (centre) coming in for Fraser Brown, Jonny Gray and Huw Jones respectively.

Reflecting on the team changes, Townsend added: “We believe Chris (Harris) and Stuart (McInally) deserve this opportunity. They were very close to the starting fifteen when we entered this campaign. We think this is the right time for them to come in.

“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.

“Stuart (McInally) has shown over the past few weeks he’s back to full fitness and is raring to go and Ben gets an opportunity to start following Jonny’s injury against England.

“Second-row is a position we have a lot of competition with a number of very good players available for selection. We’re looking forward to seeing how he combines again with Scott (Cummings) after a successful outing together against Russia in the World Cup.”

Scotland team to play Italy at the Stadio Olympico:

15 Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs)
14 Sean Maitland (Saracens)
13 Chris Harris (Gloucester)
12 Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors)
11 Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh)
10 Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors)
9 Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors)
1 Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh)
2 Stuart McInally (Edinburgh)
3 Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors)
4 Ben Toolis (Edinburgh)
5 Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors)
6 Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh)
7 Hamish Watson (Edinburgh)
8 Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh)

Replacements

16 Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors)
17 Allan Dell (London Irish)
18 Willem Nel (Edinburgh)
19 Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh)
20 Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors)
21 George Horne (Glasgow Warriors)
22 Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints)
23 Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks)