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Hall fails to make Italy cut

Edinburgh - Scotland hooker Dougie Hall has lost his battle to be fit to face Italy in Saturday's Six Nations international at Murrayfield, the Scottish Rugby Union announced on Thursday.

Hall, who started in the 38-18 Calcutta Cup defeat by England last week, has failed to recover from a knee strain suffered at Twickenham.

Ross Ford was named at hooker when coach Scott Johnson unveiled his side to face the Azzurri on Tuesday, with Hall bracketed alongside Glasgow team-mate Pat MacArthur on the bench

But it is the uncapped MacArthur who will be among the Scotland replacements in Edinburgh this weekend for a match where Italy will look to build on their impressive 23-18 first round win at home to pre-tournament favourites France.

"It's a huge honour to have the chance to play for my country," said the 25-year-old MacArthur.

"It's something I've dreamed about since I started playing mini rugby at Ayr and aimed for since I became a professional with Glasgow Warriors."

Teams:

Revised Scotland team

15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Sean Lamont, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Johnnie Beattie, 7 Kelly Brown (captain), 6 Robert Harley, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Ryan Grant

Substitutes: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Moray Low, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Alastair Kellock, 20 David Denton, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, Max Evans

Italy: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Gonzalo Canale, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Tobias Botes, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Francesco Minto, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero

Substitutes: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Antonio Pavanello, 20 Paul Derbyshire, 21 Edoardo Gori, 22 Kristopher Burton, 23 Gonzalo Garcia.

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