Townsend: Off to Glasgow

Scotland are keen to produce a show of gratitude for departing coaches Gregor Townsend and Graham Steadman.

Scotland are seeking to avoid a seventh straight loss for the first time since 1998 with victory in the wooden spoon decider at the Stadio Olimpico before a coaching overhaul at the Scottish Rugby Union.

Queensland Reds defence coach Matt Taylor and former Ospreys boss Scott Johnson will join the Scotland set-up after the tournament - with Townsend set to replace Sean Lineen at the Glasgow Warriors.

Loosehead prop Allan Jacobsen said: "We always owe the coaches a performance, because they're picking you.

"But the fact there are guys leaving, we want to win - we don't want those guys going out on the end of a losing streak.

"They deserve more. They've put a lot into this team and they deserve the best from us."

Head coach Andy Robinson could also join the departing duo in leaving Murrayfield, having so far declined to answer direct questions over his future, stating only that he is under contract until the 2015 World Cup.

While only Robinson knows his intentions for certain - and the prospect of a return to Bath has long been muted - the overhaul indicates he will be staying at Murrayfield.

The conjecture over the future of Robinson is not something that has crossed Jacobsen's mind.

The 33-year-old said: "I'm not concerned about that. As far as I know he's coach until the next World Cup.

"I've never thought about that. We're just talking about what we're going to do on Saturday."

Scotland require just a third win in Rome since Italy joined the tournament in 2000 to avoid finishing bottom of the Six Nations.

Five members of the current squad have tasted victory in the Eternal City, during the most recent win in 2006. Among them is replacement lock Alastair Kellock.

Kellock said: "Gregor and Steady have been brilliant for Scotland. As individuals as a team we've improved massively under them, so we need to go out and do something special for them.

"We've got to go over to Italy and be at our absolute best.

"It's a tough place to go. But we've won over there in the past and we've got to take confidence from that."

Teams:

Italy: A Masi (Aironi Rugby); G Venditti (Aironi Rugby), T Benvenuti (Benetton Treviso), G Canale (Clermont-Auvergne), Mirco Bergamasco (Racing-Metro Paris); K Burton (Benetton Treviso), E Gori (Benetton Treviso); A Lo Cicero (Racing Metro-Paris), L Ghiraldini (Benetton Treviso), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester Tigers), Q Geldenhuys (Aironi Rugby), M Bortolami (Aironi Rugby), A Zanni (Benetton Treviso), R Barbieri (Benetton Treviso), S Parisse (Stade Francais)

Replacements: T D'Apice (Aironi Rugby), L Cittadini (Benetton Treviso), J Furno (Aironi Rugby), S Favaro (Aironi Rugby), M Vosawai (Benetton Treviso), T Botes (Benetton Treviso), G Toniolatti (Aironi Rugby), M Rizzo (Benetton Treviso), A Sgarbi (Benetton Treviso)

Scotland: S Hogg (Glasgow Warriors); M Evans (Castres), N De Luca (Edinburgh), G Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), S Lamont (Scarlets); G Laidlaw (Edinburgh), M Blair (Edinburgh); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (capt, Edinburgh), G Cross (Edinburgh), R Gray (Glasgow Warriors), J Hamilton (Gloucester), J Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), R Rennie (Edinburgh), D Denton (Edinburgh)

Replacements: S Lawson (Gloucester), E Murray (Newcastle), A Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), R Vernon (Sale Sharks), C Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors), R Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), J Cuthbert (Bath)