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Scotland and Italy are both looking to get off the mark at Murrayfield after two defeats in this year's Six Nations.

The home side are boosted by the return of prop Euan Murray, while lock Alastair Kellock replaces Jim Hamilton.

Andrea Marcato, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Marco Bortolami and Gonzalo Garcia are the four changes to the Italian side that lost 38-9 at home to Ireland.

Italy are in search of a first ever hat-trick of Six Nations wins, having beaten the Scots in 2007 and 2008.

Scotland have won five of the nine Six Nations meetings between the teams and got the better of the visitors at the 2007 World Cup.

On that occasion, Chris Paterson kicked all of the points in a tense 18-16 victory but Scotland's most-capped player and all-time record points-scorer is kept on the bench this time, as he was in the opening defeats by Wales and France.

Frank Hadden's side surrendered meekly to the Welsh but turned in a hugely improved performance in Paris, only to lose out 22-13.  

And the Evans brothers, Max and Thom, retain their places after injecting some much needed pace into the Scottish ranks.

However, Scotland have secured just three victories in the past 12 months and the pressure is mounting on head coach Hadden.

The return of Northampton star Murray, who missed the first two rounds of the tournament with a rib injury, should improve Scotland's scrummaging, which has been ragged of late.

But set-pieces remain a worry for Hadden, who has lost locks Nathan Hines and Jim Hamilton to injury, while a lack of game time at club level has left Scott MacLeod out in the cold.

Glasgow skipper Kellock makes his first Test start in two years and will partner Jason White in the second row, but Hadden has once again gone without a recognised lock among the replacements.

Simon Taylor had to switch from the back row once Hamilton was injured early in Paris, while White is also more accustomed to the flanker's role.

"In international rugby, or top-level rugby, you should have nine subs," explained Hadden.

"But we think we've got a bench that can make a significant impact and we think they're a very important part of our team.

"Last year, I thought we played pretty well and should've come away with a win in Italy.  

"But this time we know that we've got to, first of all, lay the platform for us to play in a manner than we think we're capable of.

"We're determined to play a significant part in this championship and we know we've got to get off the mark this weekend."

Italy have suffered heavy defeats by England and Ireland and have been guilty of ill-discipline, as have the Scots, while both teams will be hoping to cut down on the number of unforced errors made so far.

"Against Ireland we had 18 fouls against when our average is 10," said visiting head coach Nick Mallett. "We simply lacked intelligence and this cannot be tolerated.

"Against Scotland I expect lucidity and discipline on the pitch from my players. We had that in last year's tournament but we haven't shown it so far."

The return of full-back Marcato and lock Bortolami, who missed the loss to Ireland through injury, will strengthen the Azzurri, as will Ghiraldini's comeback from a knee problem.

"Ghiraldini is our first choice," added Mallett. "He had an extraordinary tournament last season and according to many people he was one of the best hookers in the tournament.

"He has all the right characteristics - he is fast, makes good tackles and throws the ball in well at the line-out."

Italy:

Marcato (Benetton Treviso); Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais), Canale (Clermont-Aubergne), Garcia (Calvisano), Pratichetti (Calvisano); McLean (Calvisano) Griffen (Calvisano); Perugini (Stade Toulousain), Ghiraldini (Calvisano), Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers), Dellape (Toulon), Bortolami (Gloucester), Zanni (Calvisano), Mauro Bergamasco (Stade Francais), Parisse (Stade Francais).

Replacements:

 Ongaro (Saracens), Nieto (Gloucester), del Fava (Ulster), Canavosio (Viadana), Sole (Viadana), Bacchetti (Rovigo), Rubini (Cariparma).

 :scotland:

 :Jimmie O':  

bbcsports

Scotland: (16) 26
Tries: Danielli, Gray Con: Godman, Paterson Pens: Paterson (3), Godman

Italy: (3) 6
Pens McLean Drop-goal Parisse

Scotland comfortably secured their first victory of the 2009 Six Nations and avoided a third successive defeat by Italy in the tournament.

A scintillating try from Simon Danielli was the highlight of the first half as the Scots went into the break 16-3 up.

Scott Gray dived over in the second half and Chris Patterson finished with 11 points and Phil Godman kicked five.

Italy, whose points came via a Sergio Parisse drop-goal and a Luke McLean penalty, did not really threaten.

It was a match labelled as a career-defining one for Frank Hadden, with none other than former great Gavin Hastings declaring that the Scotland coach could not survive another defeat.

To Hadden's relief, nothing other than a Scotland win seemed likely and it is perhaps Italy coach Nick Mallet, with his laboured side rooted at the bottom of the table, who is now feeling the heat.

While the manner of the win may not have been pretty, there was plenty for Scotland to be encouraged about.

The scrum, boosted by the return of Euan Murray, looked more solid than it had been in the previous two games and that was no mean feat as the Italian pack had previously posed problems for both England and Ireland.

And, just as they had against France in Paris, the effervescent Evans brothers, Thom and Max, sparkled on the few occasions when they had the space to do so.  

The Scots raced into a 6-0 lead after 10 minutes courtesy of Paterson, who had come on as a blood-bin replacement for Godman to kick two penalties with his usual aplomb.

The error-prone Italians kept losing the ball in opposition territory, but, in the 21st minute, gasps could be heard around Murrayfield as Alessandro Zanni intercepted a Hugo Southwell pass and raced towards the tryline.

He was brought down a few metres short, but the ball was quickly recycled and Parisse dropped back to kick a drop-goal which wobbled over.

Godman missed an attempt at goal in the 23rd minute but atoned for his error six minutes later when Mauro Bergamasco was penalised for a deliberate handball.  

Scotland were gathering momentum and, five minutes before the break, capitalised on their territorial advantage when they won a quick line-out, and a neat inside pass from Graeme Morrison set Danielli free to pierce the Italian defence for his first try in Scottish colours since 2004.

Godman converted, and a missed long-range penalty from Andrea Marcato in the final minute allowed the Scots to go into the break with a commanding, if scrappy, 16-3 lead.

McLean clawed three points back for Italy with a simple penalty in the 55th minute of what was a disjointed game, but on the hour Gray dived over to all but seal a Scotland win.

The impressive Danielli cut inside and fed Thom Evans, who slalomed through the Italian defence at pace and offloaded to the replacement flanker Gray.

Paterson converted and added a penalty to make it 26-6 with 12 minutes remaining.

Scotland could even afford to waste try-scoring opportunities, with Danielli and replacement Chris Cusiter being denied by brave Italian defending.

With four minutes remaining, Mauro Bergamasco was cruelly denied a try by the bounce of the ball after a flick from Italian talisman Parisse had put him into space.

The flanker chipped ahead but could not gather for what would have been a deserved try for the visitors.

 :Jimmie O':    :scotland: