Scotland 23-12 Italy

Scotland v Italy

• Venue: Murrayfield
• Date: Saturday 20 August
• Kick-off: 1700 BST
• Coverage: Live on BBC Two Scotland from 1645 BST, Radio Scotland 92-95 FM and online

Scotland were 21-8 winners against Italy at Murrayfield earlier this year

Scotland take on Italy at Murrayfield in what is the final preparation game before the World Cup gets underway in New Zealand next month.

And the Test at Murrayfield represents the last chance to impress head coach Andy Robinson.

Simon Danielli starts on the left wing, with Nikki Walker on the bench, and it looks like a straight battle between those two for a place in the squad.

Props Alasdair Dickinson, Moray Low and Euan Murray will also be fired up for the Azzurri clash since it is likely to be a choice of two from three.

The latter is among the replacements as he makes his way back from an Achilles injury.

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Even though it's a first game of the season for many players, we go into it with a lot of optimism

Gregor Townsend Scotland attack coach

Back-row stalwarts John Barclay and Kelly Brown return to the starting line-up, having been rested for the 10-6 win over Ireland a fortnight ago.

Richie Vernon joins them and will need to turn in a good performance to guarantee his seat on the plane heading to the southern hemisphere, although David Denton and Johnnie Beattie are perhaps the likelier men to face the unfortunate chop.

Robinson must trim his squad to 30 on Monday, leaving eight men disappointed.

Centre Ben Cairns, prop Ryan Grant and flanker Rob Harley have not been included for either warm-up match.

Greig Laidlaw was only given 20 minutes against the Irish and may well be left behind if experienced scrum-halves Mike Blair and Chris Cusiter prove their fitness.

Blair starts against Italy, with his old rival Cusiter on the bench.

RECENT MEETINGS

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• 2007: Italy 37-17 (Murrayfield)
• 2007: Scotland 18-16 (St Etienne)
• 2008: Italy 23-20 (Rome)
• 2009: Scotland 26-6 (Murrayfield)
• 2010: Italy 16-12 (Rome)
• 2011: Scotland 21-8 (Murrayfield)

If Dan Parks can impress at stand-off, he has a chance of reclaiming the number 10 jersey in New Zealand, where the Scots will be up against Romania, Georgia, Argentina and England in the pool section.

Rory Lamont is the given the chance to show what he can do at full-back, with Max Evans on the right wing, while Nicke De Luca forms a centre partnership with Graeme Morrison, the only survivor from the untidy win over Ireland.

Captain Al Kellock and the ferocious Nathan Hines are back to add bite and muscle against a team that has a good record at Murrayfield.

Scotland's only Six Nations success this year came against Italy in a 21-8 win on the final weekend.

However, the Azzurri ran in four tries for a 37-17 win in Edinburgh in 2007 and beat Scotland on home soil in the 2008 and 2010 tournaments.

"We were pleased with the way we played against Italy in the Six Nations," attack coach Gregor Townsend told BBC Scotland.

"Even though it's a first game of the season for many players, we go into it with a lot of optimism.

"We were pleased with a lot of aspects of the game against Ireland and feel were are on the right track."

Italy struggled to a 31-24 win against Japan last weekend but are closer to full strength this time, with just three changes from the side that shocked France in this year's Six Nations.

Scotland: R Lamont (Toulon), M Evans (Castres), N De Luca (Edinburgh), G Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), S Danielli (Ulster), D Parks (Cardiff Blues), M Blair (Edinburgh), A Dickinson (Sale Sharks), S Lawson (Gloucester), M Low (Glasgow Warriors), N Hines (Clermont Ferrand), A Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), K Brown (Saracens), R Vernon (Sale Sharks), J Barclay (Glasgow Warriors)

Replacements: D Hall (Glasgow Warriors), E Murray (Newcastle Falcons), R Gray (Glasgow Warriors), R Rennie (Edinburgh), C Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors), R Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), N Walker (Ospreys)

Italy: Andrea Masi (Aironi); Tommaso Benvenuti (Treviso), Gonzalo Canale (Clermont-Auvergne), Gonzalo Garcia (Treviso), Mirco Bergamasco (Racing-Metro Paris); Luciano Orquera (Aironi), Fabio Semenzato (Treviso); Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais) - capt, Robert Barbieri (Treviso), Paul Derbyshire (Treviso); Cornelius Van Zyl (Treviso), Carlo Antonio Del Fava (Aironi); Martin Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Treviso), Andrea Lo Cicero (Racing-Metro Paris)

Replacements: Tommaso D'Apice (Aironi), Lorenzo Cittadini (Treviso), Marco Bortolami (Aironi), Alessandro Zanni (Treviso), Pablo Canavosio (Calvisano), Riccardo Bocchino (Cavalieri Prato), Matteo Pratichetti (Aironi)

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