Scotland open their Six Nations campaign at home to Italy on Saturday. Here, we take a look at some of the big talking points ahead of the Championship opener.
Gregor Townsend's injury woes
When the Scotland head coach named his 31-man squad earlier this month, he also published a 19-strong list of casualties who will miss this weekend's Azzurri clash. There has been new additions to it since, including flanker Hamish Watson. Glasgow hooker Fraser Brown could make a surprise early return, which would be a big boost to the head coach, who has had to call up three rookies as cover for his only other fit experienced number two Stuart McInally.
The Finn Factor
Finn Russell has provided Scotland with an X-factor since bursting onto the international scene in 2014. However, the 26-year-old has taken his game to a new level since moving from Glasgow to French giants Racing 92 last summer. The Dark Blues will hope he can provide the kind of "je ne sais quoi" that saw him unlock England with an audacious 30-yard pass last year. The only concern will be if his club side force him to return to Top 14 action during the fallow weeks and leave him running on empty for the latter stages of the tournament.
Time for the Azzurri to arrive
Italy will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their admission to the Six Nations next year but despite having made strides over the past two decades, they remain the competition's whipping boys. They head into Saturday's Test on the back of 17 straight defeats in the tournament since their last win against the Scots in 2015. Lose at Murrayfield and it is likely to be another long seven weeks for Conor O'Shea's team.