Preview: Scotland v Italy
The opening game on the final day of the Six Nations season is Cotter's last before the former Clermont coach makes way for Scot Gregor Townsend and returns to the French Top 14 with Montpellier.
In his three-year stint, the 55-year-old New Zealander guided Scotland from 10th to fifth in the world rankings, came within a whisker of a World Cup semi-final and is guaranteed to depart as the first Scotland coach in the professional era to achieve a 50 percent win ratio.
With 18 victories from 35 matches, Cotter's tally stands at 51.4 percent.
Despite the shuddering setback of last Saturday's 21-61 defeat against England – Scotland's heaviest points concession to their rivals – Cotter could also finish his tenure with the Scots' highest Six Nations finish.
His team would take second place, behind England, if they beat Italy with a try bonus point, if Wales beat France without a bonus point and if Ireland lose to England.
"There'll be a bit of sadness involved with it being the last game but first and foremost it's about getting the performance. Winning's the most important thing. If someone had said beforehand that we'd have two wins with a game to go we'd probably have taken it.
"The players are really focused on an opportunity to finish well in this Six Nations," said Cotter.
Cotter's wounded team will need to recover from the psychological and physical damage of their Twickenham thrashing – the selection of head-knock victims Stuart Hogg, Ryan Wilson and Tommy Seymour is subject to passing progressive return-to-play protocols.
They will also have to overcome an Italian side, led by the inspirational Sergio Parisse, who will be scenting a chance to end their miserable season on the high of another memorable Murrayfield success.
Italy's only two away wins in the Six Nations have been achieved at the Edinburgh ground and Parisse, the Stade Francais No.8 who has 125 caps, played a pivotal part in both the 37-17 victory in 2007 and the 22-19 triumph in 2015, which remains the Azzurri's last victory in the competition.
The 33-year-old, born in Argentina, also scored a cheeky drop goal in a 26-6 defeat at Murrayfield in 2009, emulating New Zealand's Zinzan Brooke and England's Neil Back as one of the select few international backrow forwards to successfully perform the party piece.
"Everything revolves around Parisse in the Italian team, so if we can shut him down then it will help," said Cornell Du Preez, the South African-born flank who made his debut off the bench against England.
Under the guidance of new coach Conor O'Shea, Italy came into the championship with high hopes, following their historic 20-18 victory against South Africa in Florence in November.
However, they have suffered a succession of dramatic second-half slumps (scoring a combined tally of just 12 points and conceding a whopping 120) and have failed to finish within 20 points of an opposition team.
"People will say it's physical but a lot of it's mental. When things go against us we can't afford to compound our errors," said O'Shea.
Players to watch:
For Scotland: Huw Jones has taken to the international arena like a duck to water and will want to continue his fine form while the combination of Finn Russell and Ali Price have proven to be a successful halfback pairing. The Gray brothers will need to set the tone at setpiece time if Scotland are going to have the upperhand.
For Italy: Everything the Italians do centres around captain Sergio Parisse. We all know how good he is and how much he inspires those around him. It is that inspiration that will be needed if Carlo Canna and Edoardo Gori are to get the backline firing while Abraham Steyn will want to put his big frame to good use.
Head to head: The tussle at halfback will be interesting to follow and see who can get their backline on the front foot but that will only happen if the pack of forwards are doing their bit to dominate their opponents.
Recent results:
2016: Scotland won 36-20, Rome
2015: Scotland won 48-7, Edinburgh
2015: Scotland won 16-12, Torino
2015: Italy won 22-19, Edinburgh
2014: Scotland won 21-20, Rome
2013: Scotland won 30-29, Pretoria
2013: Scotland won 34-10, Edinburgh
2012: Italy won 13-6, Rome
2011: Scotland won 23-12, Edinburgh
2011: Scotland won 21-8, Edinburgh
Prediction: Italy are looking to end the competition with some points but with Vern Cotter saying goodbye to Scotland, the home side will have plenty to play for and claim a comfortable victory by about 15 points.
Teams:
Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (Captain), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Gordon Reid.
Replacements: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Cornell Du Preez, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Matt Scott.
Italy: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (captain), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Maxime Mbanda, 5 George Biagi, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Dries Van Schalkwyk, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Francesco Minto, 22 Marcello Violi, 23 Luca Sperandio.
Date: Saturday, March 18
Venue: Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Kick-off: 12.30 (12.30 GMT; 13.30 CET)
Expected weather: Patchy light rain that will turn heavier. Low of 7°C, high of 10°C
Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Agence France-Presse
