He might be branded a stopgap in some quarters, but I fully expect Peter Horne to justify his selection at fly-half against Italy at BT Murrayfield today.

I know all too well that when you have the number 10 on your back you've also got a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, but I've been impressed by what I've seen of him over the past few weeks.

I actually coached Horne in his Scotland under-20s days, when he played mostly at full-back. He had played a decent amount of junior rugby at fly-half, but some of my fellow-coaches were less confident in his abilities in the playmaker position than I was. His kicking was not too strong and he would allow errors to affect the rest of his game.

I think he is a lot more self assured now. He might not quite match Russell as a kicker, but he has become his equal in terms of resilience. If he makes a mistake these days he's pretty good at getting straight back on the horse.

It's amazing to think that he has played for Scotland six times already, but that this will be his first appearance at Murrayfield. Whenever and wherever you play, it's always a huge honour to represent your country, but it means that bit more when you do so on home soil. In a way, this will be like a second debut for him.

It certainly makes a difference when you know you have the support of the vast majority of the crowd. In which regard, it's great news that a record crowd for the fixture is expected today. Only a few years ago, the Italy game drew barely 40,000 to the stadium, so it is a good measure of the country's support (and a far more sensible pricing policy) that it will be close to capacity. It will do Horne's confidence the world of good to know that he has friends, family and former Howe of Fife team-mates cheering him on.

As soon as Russell's two-week ban was confirmed, I hoped Horne would be given the nod. In truth, I actually expected Greig Tonks to be given the job as he was Russell's understudy against Wales, and I expect the Edinburgh man must be pretty miffed about being usurped. However, Horne has played at 10 for a winning Glasgow team for the past two weekends, and I think that match-sharpness and continuity must have counted in his favour.

It must also have been a plus point for him that he is stepping into a backline that is already dominated by Glasgow players. To have six players from one club behind the scrum is a staggering achievement, although one that also reflects the lack of alternatives when you only have two professional teams. For Horne's sake, though, it has to be reassuring to know that he is playing beside Mark Bennett and Alex Dunbar, his in-form Warriors colleagues.

He also has Greig Laidlaw at scrum-half to ease him into the game. I didn't think Laidlaw was at his best in the Wales game - he certainly wasn't at the level he reached in the November Tests - but he will take some of the kicking responsibilities away from Horne and he also brings experience and understanding of the challenges the newcomer faces as he has played international rugby at fly-half himself.

But he cannot rely too heavily on the players around him. A good 10 has to want to take charge and run the show. For his sake, I hope he gets some solid early touches and starts to feel comfortable in his surroundings. He's dreamt of today all his life and it is up to him to make the most of it.

Some early points would be useful, too. Italy cannot be taken lightly and they showed their attacking threat with three tries against England a fortnight ago, but their defence has not been too clever at times. Meanwhile, Scotland's attack has created a lot of chances over the course of two games; they just have to be more patient and precise when it comes to finishing things off.

Finally, while I have a lot of sympathy for Russell at the moment, the discipline panel and the appeal committee that have dealt with his case over the past two weeks have simply applied the law as it is written. Perhaps they should be given more scope for discretion and understanding - if referees are expected to apply those qualities then why not the blokes in blazers as well? - but Russell put himself in a place where he was taking a big risk. And it certainly didn't come off.