Neither Dougie Hall nor Scott has been able to command the shirt for more than two consecutive games and both are keeping nervous eyes over their shoulders at Ross Ford, who is injured at the moment but will return in the summer to make it a three-way fight.
"If one of us can stamp our authority on a game, then I would say that we would probably get a run of games," Scott said in The Times. "That is something that is obvious. There is nobody who has made the jersey theirs. That is something we are both aiming to do. There has been a lot of chopping and changing. I had the jersey down in Wales, though I did not have my best game there, but, hopefully, I can use that experience from the Millennium Stadium — an away match and my first Six Nations start — to my advantage. I expect it'll be a similar atmosphere in Rome."
Scott is the smallest of the hooking options for Frank Hadden, the Scotland coach, but also the most natural thrower. While Hall and Ford have learnt a technique that serves them reasonably well, Lawson is the one who does it all by instinct.
Which is not always to his advantage and he admits that he would not mind a couple of easy bankers — the equivalent to a goalkicker getting his first shot from the 22 dead in front of the posts — early in the game on Saturday. He has certainly not had them up to now, his starts against New Zealand and Wales both presenting him with early pressure throws to the back of the line that, in the event, went awry.
"They were both similar lineouts, and especially the one in Wales was emphasised by people after the game," he said, recalling how the Welsh stole the throw, setting up the scrums that eventually led to the penalty try.
"You do take a little while to hit a rhythm but that is something that we have been talking about, that we have to start well. You have to do that on away trips when you don't have the crowd to lift you. You have to start well, and the lineout starting well is a major issue.
"We need the platform this week," Scott acknowledges. "We are working on it every available opportunity, though at this stage of the Six Nations championship rest is the most vital thing. All of us know the moves so it is a case of doing them and then going through the analysis and picking the right ones to do on the day."