Six Nations

Scots warned to beware an Italian backlash

John Barclay has warned Scotland to beware of an Italian backlash as Conor O’shea’s side look to avoid a Natwest Six Nations whitewash.

The Azzurri have suffered a torturous campaign so far, shipping 23 tries on their way to four painful drubbings.

Today’s campaign closer at Stadio Olimpico offers Italy one last chance for redemption and Scots captain Barclay has put his men on red alert.

The flanker was part of the Scotland line-ups defeated twice in Rome, in 2010 and 2012, and said: “I’ve had some good experiences here and I’ve had some not-so-good experiences – but we’re not worrying too much about that.

“We know what the challenge ahead is. Italy will be fiercely motivated to finish on a high. I’m sure they will be disappointed with their campaign. They have shown glimpses of what they are capable of. They are playing a slightly different brand of rugby and have some fantastic players across the board. They have good guys up front with power and sprinkling of stardust elsewhere.

“I’m can’t speak for their motivation but obviously they will want to finish on a high.”

But Scotland are also desperate for a win to ensure a campaign which began with much optimism does not close on a sour note. Wins over France and England were the high points for Gregor Townsend and his side so far but defeat by Italy would smart even more

JOHN BARCLAY “We’re going to stick with the brand of rugby. The pressure is on us to do it with accuracy”

than the heavy defeats suffered away in Wales and Ireland.

“We’ve been a little bit up and down,” acknowledged Barclay. “We started poorly, had some good highs and some not-so-good lows. We’ll finish where we finish but we’d like to end with three out of five wins and go out on a high.

“We’re playing the right way which suits Scotland having changed our style a little bit. But we know how hard it is [to compete in the Six Nations].

“We know there will be two teams out there looking to finish the campaign on a high.”

Scotland’s title hopes slipped through their fingers last week in Dublin but Barclay insists the mistakes which cost them against the Irish have been put to bed. We’ve got quality players. OK we made three big mistakes under pressure last week but what we’ve looked at this week is the fact we put ourselves in good positions.

“Nine times out of ten those chances are finished.

“We won’t change the way we want to play and we haven’t really spoken about last week’s mistakes because ordinarily the guys make the most of them. So we’re going to stick with the brand of rugby. It’s not changed since the autumn and that’s the way we want to play.

“The pressure is on us to make sure that we do it with accuracy.”