Six Nations: Nicol fit for Scots - but may not play

Scotland scrum-half Andy Nicol has been given a clean bill of health in the build up to Saturday's Six Nations encounter with Italy at Murrayfield.

However coach Ian McGeechan refused to reveal if he would retain the captaincy, or even be in the starting line up.

McGeechan said: "I have decided who will be skipper - and the player knows who will be leading them, but I will not be divulging the details until I name the team on Thursday."

If Nicol is overlooked, the armband will be passed to flanker Budge Pountney, who led the Scots in the autumn internationals against USA, Australia and Samoa.

Gregor Townsend looks a certainty to start after coming through his live fitness test at the weekend.

The stand-off, who sustained knee damage early in the Six Nations opener against France in Paris, played 40 minutes for Castres as they beat Mont-de-Marsan.

He said: "It was good to be back in the game - and even better that there was no adverse reaction.

"It was a huge disappointment to be injured at that particular time. Missing the matches against Wales and England was extremely frustrating."

Nicol, meanwhile, has been officially cleared of being involved in a black-market ticket deal.

He had been at the centre of a probe after claims that he was the middle-man in a deal to supply tickets for the Calcutta Cup showdown with England at Twickenham 10 days ago.

But it emerged yesterday that he had - as he insisted all along - broken no rules by passing on a batch of 16 tickets to a personal friend who also operates a corporate hospitality business.

SRU marketing supremo Phil Anderson declared: "Andy is an honourable man and he did nothing to damage his fine reputation.

"He put his hands up right away and admitted that he had sold on some tickets at the advertised price, but in doing so he did not contravene any regulations.

"The tickets were issued by the English Rugby Football Union, which are governed by slightly different rules than we have north of the border.

"Under their conditions of sale, which are printed on the backs of tickets, they are allowed to be sold on - providing the transaction is conducted at face value."

Anderton confirmed that more than 53,000 tickets had so far been sold for the Italy clash - almost twice the attendance when Italy last played at Murrayfield two years ago.