Scotland hooker Brown cleared to face Italy

Scotland hooker Fraser Brown has been cleared to play in his side's final Six Nations match versus Italy, after an independent panel deemed the yellow card he received for a tackle on England's Elliot Daly a sufficient punishment.

Brown was sent to the sin bin in the opening minutes of Scotland's 61-21 defeat at Twickenham last weekend, after a tackle that saw Daly land awkwardly.

A citing followed for Brown, but Scottish Rugby confirmed on Tuesday that the 27-year-old would not face further punishment.

"Hooker Fraser Brown available for selection v Italy after independent panel deems yellow card sufficient 4 [sic] tackle on Daly," read a tweet from Scottish Rugby's official account.

March 14, 2017

Italy have named their team to face Scotland, with head coach Conor O'Shea making four changes to the side beaten by France in Rome last time out.

Injury victims Michele Campagnaro and Simone Favaro are replaced by Tommaso Benvenuti and Maxime Mbanda respectively, while lock George Biagi and hooker Ornel Gega are preferred to Andries van Schalkwyk and Leonardo Ghiraldini.

O'Shea has named just two backs on the bench, enabling him to name six forwards among his replacements.

La formazione di

Italy: Edoardo Padovani, Angelo Esposito, Tommaso Benvenuti, Luke McLean, Giovanbattista Venditti, Carlo Canna, Edoardo Gori; Andrea Lovotti, Ornel Gega, Lorenzo Cittadini, Marco Fuser, George Biagi, Maxime Mbanda, Abraham Steyn, Sergio Parisse (captain).

Replacements: Leonardo Ghiraldini, Sami Panico, Dario Chistolini, Andries van Schalkwyk, Federico Ruzza, Francesco Minto, Marcello Violi, Luca Sperandio.