Edinburgh hooker Dave Cherry is given a surprise start as Stafford McDowall replaces injured captain Sione Tuipulotu at inside centre for Scotland's opening Six Nations match against Italy on Saturday.

The Glasgow Warriors centre, who captained the side against Portugal in The Famous Grouse Nations Series, will partner the experienced Huw Jones in the centre. The familiar duo of Ben White and Finn Russell,

Saturday, 1 February Time: 14:15 GMT Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, listen on Radio 5 live, Radio Scotland & BBC Sounds and follow live on the BBC Sport website and app. Finn Russell is one of rugby union's biggest stars.

In one of his final acts as a Bath player before heading into the Six Nations, Finn Russell produced a try for Tom Carr-Smith that left his usually stoic coach Johann van Graan open-mouthed in awe.

Bayliss limped off late in the first half with what Bath head of rugby Johan van Graan labelled a “serious” groin injury. Townsend has already lost captain Sione Tuipulotu and lock Scott Cummings to injury, while there are slight concerns over Duhan van der Merwe’s fitness due to an ankle issue.

Finn Russell and Scotland plot a ‘different’ answer to the same old Six Nations question - Exclusive interview: Even the fly-half himself admits that he has not won enough silverware – so could this be Scotland’s year for Six Nations success?

Kick-off time, TV channel, live stream, team news, lineups, h2h, odds - Scots reeling from Sione Tuipulotu injury blow ahead of Azzurri’s visit to Murrayfield

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Bath fly-half Finn Russell has been tipped to take the Six Nations by storm and lead the charge for the British & Irish Lions against Australia later this year.

Finn Russell takes the question in his stride like ... We’ve had a great group of players with Scotland for the last six, seven, eight years, but we’ve never quite managed to get over the ...

Johnnie Beattie gives his verdict on Scotland's chances ahead of the Six Nations 2025. Scotland march into the Six Nations as perennial dark horses. They have failed to breach the top two in the Six Nations era, dating back to 2000, despite increasing optimism in recent years.

Finn Russell gave Scotland another scare ahead of the Six Nations when he was sent for a head injury assessment during Bath's 47-21 defeat to Leinster on Saturday.