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Hadden looks for pay-off

Hadden: Hoping his gamble takes his side to dizzy heights

Scotland head coach Frank Hadden hopes the decision to rest his star names last weekend pays dividends when his side take on Italy on Saturday.

A largely second-string team suffered a 40-0 whitewash against the All Blacks at Murrayfield on Sunday, with the eliminator against the Azzurri firmly at the top of Hadden's priority list.

"I guess people will not know whether the decision is vindicated until after this weekend," he said. "I still believe it was the right decision. It was brave because we knew we would get pelted for it - but it doesn't stop us making them."

Hadden was also quick to stress that the absence of Marco Bortolami from the Italy team will not make their task any easier.

"Although their captain is unavailable, one of the reasons they have made so much progress in the past couple of years is, like us, they have a lot of depth," Hadden said.