Danielli wings in for Scotland
Scotland coach Frank Hadden has made two enforced changes to his line-up for Saturday's Six Nations clash against Italy in Rome.
Scotland coach Frank Hadden has made two enforced changes to his line-up for Saturday's Wooden Spoon decider in the Six Nations clash against Italy in Rome.
Danielli will make his first international start for three years as he replaces the injured Rory Lamont, who sustained a head injury in a collision with England full-back Iain Balshaw at the weekend.
With Ross Ford ruled out with an ankle injury, Hadden has also called up hooker Fergus Thomson for his first start for the Scots.
“Simon Danielli has played consistently well for some time now and I had no hesitation in giving him the chance to restart his international career,” said Hadden.
“Fergus Thomson played really well when he came on against England.
“He took his opportunity with both hands and thoroughly deserves his first start for Scotland.”
Hadden has retained the five/two split between forwards and backs among the replacements.
“We felt the impact made by the forward substitutes in the Calcutta Cup had a bearing on the outcome,” said Hadden.
“We believe this is the right way to approach this game as well.”
Scotland must win or avoid defeat by more than five points against Italy to make sure they do not pick up the wooden spoon for the second successive season.
Scotland: 15 Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh), 14 Simon Danielli (Ulster), 13 Simon Webster (Edinburgh), 12 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), 11 Nikki Walker (Ospreys), 10 Chris Paterson (Gloucester), 9 Mike Blair (Edinburgh, captain), 8 Simon Taylor (Stade Francais), 7 Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), 6 Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester), 5 Scott MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), 4 Nathan Hines (Perpignan), 3 Euan Murray (Northampton Saints), 2 Fergus Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), 1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh)
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson (Sale Sharks), 17 Alasdair Dickinson (Gloucester), 18 Craig Smith (Edinburgh), 19 Jason White (Sale Sharks, 20 Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors), 21 Rory Lawson (Gloucester), 22 Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors)
Date: Saturday, 15 March
Venue: Stadio Flaminio
Kick-off: 14:00 (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Touch judges: Chris White (England) and Simon McDowell (Ireland)
TMO: Romain Poite (France)