Kinghorn treble gets Scots over the line against Italy
BLAIR KINGHORN grabbed a sparkling hat-trick as Scotland got their campaign up and running by inflicting an 18th successive Six Nations defeat on Italy.
Kinghorn, who was drafted on to the wing after injury to Sean Maitland, struck twice in the opening quarter as Italy struggled to gain a foothold – then bagged a third after the break, sandwiched by further scores from Stuart Hogg and Chris Harris.
Italy head coach Conor O’Shea later revealed his squad had been afflicted by a midweek sickness bug. However, it was Kinghorn’s day as he became the first Scot to bag a Six Nations treble ahead of Saturday’s pivotal home clash with Ireland.
“It was awesome – a great performance from the team,” said Kinghorn. “To score any try is brilliant and I was just lucky to be on the end of some great passing and a great kick from Finn Russell.
“It helps when you’ve got guys like Finn and Stuart Hogg creating things for you and it makes things a bit easier. We’re happy with the win but we’ll need to see how we can get better now because it’s a massive week coming up.”
Italy suffered a blow before kick-off with No.9 Tito Tebaldi ruled out with back trouble and they were immediately under pressure when Hogg and Greig Laidlaw combined to force a five-metre lineout. Grant Gilchrist ploughed over but was pinged for a double movement.
Russell sent Kinghorn roaring through as Scotland pressed again but Hogg was scragged by Tomasso Allan and debutant David Sisi pulled off the turnover.
Italy scored from their first attack, Allan smashing over a penalty after Sergio Parisse had been flipped. Their joy was short-lived as Scotland gained possession from the restart and Russell’s crosskick located Kinghorn for a scintillating touchdown.
Scotland’s passing game looked sharp and they bagged try No.2 when, after Tomasso Castello had knocked-on, Laidlaw switched play from the scrum and Russell performed a slick wraparound move before Hogg released Kinghorn.
A scruffy period of knock-ons and scrum resets ruined the flow before Jayden Hayward’s monster touch-finder pinned the hosts back. Scotland’s exit strategy stood up to scrutiny, though, as they cleared their lines to lead 12-3 at the break.
Hogg injected urgency from the restart and Josh Strauss made a half-break as Scotland built pressure.
A well-worked lineout move saw Laidlaw put Tommy Seymour through a gap and, when the ball was recycled, Russell dabbed through for Hogg to score.
Italy almost replied when Guglielmo Palazzani raced clear but Scotland scrambled back and were soon on the march again through Hogg and Strauss.
The bonus-point try arrived on 54 minutes, and a cracker it was too as Scotland stretched Italy left to right and back again before Jamie Ritchie burst on to Laidlaw’s lay-off and Kinghorn was on hand to leave Italy trailing on his way to the hat-trick.
It was now a question of how many and when Hogg set sail through a static Italian midfield and linked with Ben Toolis, Scotland recycled for Strauss to send Harris over.
Italy rallied late on to bag a try when, with Scotland prop Simon Berghan in the sin-bin for killing the ball, Palazzani sniped over.
Scotland switched off completely as Italy grabbed a second try when Jimmy Tuivaiti galloped down the left and sent in Edoardo Padovani. They then gained further consolation as Angelo Esposito cantered home to give the score-line a flattering hue.