STUART Hogg has not started a competitive match at stand-off since the Lions tour to Australia in 2013, and never begun a game there for Glasgow, but Gregor Townsend is confident that his stand-off has the versatility as well as the quality to make a success of the switch for the Warriors’ game against Benetton Treviso this afternoon.

With Finn Russell being rested and back-up No 10 Pete Horne still out injured, Townsend has opted to move Hogg up from full-back and bring in Peter Murchie to the No 15 slot for the PRO12 clash. Any such alteration in position can be defined as a calculated risk, but Hogg’s ability suggests it should be a minimal one. In any case, with two crunch Champions Cup games coming up in January, the head coach wants to find out if he can pencil Hogg in as his on-field cover for Finn Russell for those encounters.

“He has covered there a number of times, and gone there during games, and in our last three games he’s been the replacement 10 but Finn’s played 80 minutes,” Townsend said yesterday after naming his team. “So this is a chance for us to see him there if he’s going to be our back-up ten for our next Champions Cup game.

“He’s a very good passer of the ball, a good kicker, and now has a level of experience and knowledge of our attacking shape that allows him to control what we do in attack. He can make decisions on where there is space to attack. He has a very good running game and while it’s suited more to full-back, and running onto the ball, he can still take it as a first receiver too.

“He’s going to have 40 or 50 touches of the ball, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he goes with that. But watching him today in training he’s very good at organising what we do in attack and we also want him running.

“I’m excited about it. Knowing we were resting players last week and this, we didn’t want to rest Stuart and Finn in the same game and we believed this gives us the opportunity to see Stuart and Peter, who was playing well before his injury, while Rory [Clegg] gives us the option of a stand-off on the bench. Peter would normally play there ahead of Stuart, but he’ll not be back until probably mid-Six Nations.”

Some of Townsend’s squad rotation is done of necessity - there is a protocol in place that means Scotland players must sit out a match after playing five games in succession - but a lot of it constitutes an attempt to make best use of his resources over the course of a long and exhausting season. “It’s great when it works and you can manage it,” Townsend added.

“It’s great to see Gordon Reid, Tim Swinson, Ryan Wilson, Tommy Seymour and players like that coming back really sharp after some time off. The team has won in their absence and other players have stepped up, so when it works and players come in and take their opportunities it’s a great policy!’

Peter Murchie stands in for Hogg at full-back today, while Seymour returns on the left wing in place of the injured Lee Jones and Junior Bulumakau retains his place on the right. Centre pairing Alex Dunbar and Mark Bennett are rested, allowing Nick Grigg and Sam Johnson to take over.

In the pack, Ryan Wilson returns to the back row after sitting out the 1872 Cup win over Edinburgh on Boxing Day, and Adam Ashe also starts in the back row for the first time since returning from injury. Jonny Gray and Fraser Brown are rested, while Zander Fagerson is on the bench.

Treviso have won their last three games - two against Bayonne in the Challenge Cup as well as the derby against Zebre - and Townsend warned that he did not expect an easy afternoon against the team who lie second bottom of the league. “With three wins this will be new territory for them and they’ll be full of confidence. They also played a few days before Christmas, so have had a good rest, whereas we’ve had a five-day turnaround, and at home they’re always strong.

“They’ve also changed the way they’re playing. Kieran Crowley [the head coach] has them moving the ball a lot more. They still have their traditional strengths of the set piece and driving maul, with big men, so we have to make sure we defend well against them.

“But our aim is to move them around. We know that big packs tire if you’re accurate and move them around, and it’s likely to be nice weather so it should be a good game for us to be able to do that.”

Glasgow Warriors (v Benetton Treviso at Stadio Monigo, today, kick-off 1.05pm UK time, live on BBC Alba): P Murchie; J Bulumakau, N Grigg, S Johnson, T Seymour; S Hogg, H Pyrgos; G Reid, P MacArthur, D Rae, T Swinson, B Alainu’uese, A Ashe, C Fusaro, R Wilson. Substitutes: C Flynn, A Allan, Z Fagerson, R Harley, S Favaro, N Kenatale, R Clegg, S Lamont.

Benetton Treviso: L McLean; A Esposito, T Benvenuti, L Morisi, L Sperandio; T Allan, G Bronzini; A de Marchi, D Giazzon, M Zanusso, M Fuser, D Budd, R Barbieri, A Steyn, M Barbino. Substitutes: R Santamaria, F Zani, T Pasquali, T Paulo, M Lazzaroni, E Gori, I McKinley, T Iannone.