The midfielder delivered several excellent performances for Scotland during the Autumn Nations Series and continued with that outstanding form at club level for Glasgow Warriors. That triumph over Scotland in Rome will still be fresh in the memories of Townsend and his troops, who will be out for revenge on Saturday.
Both sides like to play expansively but the side who dominates the territorial battle and has most of the possession will have an edge. Although the ball should receive plenty of air, the end result will depend on the game management of the respective fly-halves. In order for the fly-halves to dictate proceedings, they need to receive good front foot ball from their forwards and the battle up front will be huge.
Scotland number eight Matt Fagerson will form a loose forward combination with flankers Rory Darge and Jamie Ritchie while for Italy, Lorenzo Cannone starts at the base of the scrum with powerhouse Sebastian Negri and captain Lamaro on the flanks.
Fagerson believes the back-row battle will be a key facet of play and whoever dominates the breakdowns will have an edge over their opponents.
Italy full-back Tommaso Allan said the Azzurri are preparing for a difficult challenge and expect their hosts to be highly motivated on their home turf. We are studying them and we are preparing our match to play our game: we have to do it at our best and then the result will be seen at the end. For Scotland, there will be plenty of pressure on the shoulders of Stafford McDowall who has big boots to fill as he comes into the run-on side as a replacement for first-choice inside centre Tuipulotu.
