KEY POINTS:
PARIS - Scotland coach Frank Hadden has made 15 changes, two of them positional, to face Italy in a make-or-break rugby World Cup Pool C match in St Etienne on Sunday.
Only Chris Paterson, moving from first five-eighths to wing for his 80th cap and Simon Webster, switched from wing to centre, remain from the starting team for Monday's 40-0 defeat by New Zealand.
Hadden, who has faced criticism for playing a below-strength side against the All Blacks, decided to field his best team for a match Scotland have to win to advance to the quarter-finals.
In fact Hadden reverted to exactly the same team he had picked for last week's 42-0 win over Romania.
Hadden said the selection had taken "longer than might have been expected" because his priority was to pick the freshest possible XV.
"We are happy with where we are at present", he told the Scottish Rugby Union website (www.srfu.co.uk).
"We expect the side selected for Saturday to step up a gear and make the bold statement that we want to make at this World Cup," he added.
Scotland will be out for revenge after losing 37-17 in their last encounter with Italy, during the Six Nations tournament, at Murrayfield last February.
"We give Italy the utmost respect", Hadden said. "Not only did they win their last match against us but we have always found Italy a difficult side to play against at all levels in Scottish rugby.
"Saturday's (Sunday's) match is a knock-out game and is Scottish Rugby's biggest game since we played Fiji in the last World Cup", he added, referring to a 22-20 win in a pool game that had sent Scotland through to the quarter-finals.
SCOTLAND
15-Rory Lamont, 14-Sean Lamont, 13-Simon Webster, 12-Rob Dewey, 11-Chris Paterson, 10-Dan Parks, 9-Mike Blair, 8-Simon Taylor, 7-Allister Hogg, 6-Jason White (captain), 5-Jim Hamilton, 4-Nathan Hines, 3-Euan Murray, 2-Ross Ford, 1-Gavin Kerr.
Reserves: 16-Scott Lawson, 17-Craig Smith, 18-Scott MacLeod, 19-Kelly Brown, 20-Chris Cusiter, 21-Andrew Henderson, 22-Hugo Southwell
- REUTERS
