Defiant Johnson expects youngsters

DESPITE THE disappointment of not scoring and suffering a second heavy defeat in the championship, the 24-year-old from Cupar said that the belief was still there in the Scotland dressing room.

“The conf idence is certainly all there,” he said. “There’s clearly work to do with the review but going over to Italy we’ll still be confident of the win.”

Perhaps Fusaro’s best memories of his debut will be the pre-match build up, which was everything he expected.

“I was very emotional during the anthem, all the boys told me to savour it as much as possible. My mum and dad came down to the dressing room before the game and that was nice of them to allow that.

“Obviously the result takes a bit away from the whole experience. But it’s something I’ll never forget.”

Te a m - m a te Dav i d Denton, somewhat surprisingly removed after less than an hour when he had been the main threat to England going forward, paid tribute to his new teammate.

“Fuzzy was awesome as usual, he’s a terrier and it was what he was in the team to do,” said Denton. “He brings an attitude, he’s a really aggressive guy and he gets into the opposition’s faces.

“I came through the academy system with him and I can tell you he’s as strong as a guy twice his size. He makes up any physical difference with heart and I think he did really well today.”

The No 8 understands that improvement is needed in set-piece for Rome, but said the key was England never allowing Scotland to play off the front foot.

“We never planned to do anything but play territory off three phases but their line speed in defence was so quick that we were always kicking off the back foot,” he said. “All of my carries were of kick returns which was a bit frustrating.”

Denton looked unhappy when replaced but said