SCOTS MAKE IT FIVE IN A ROW
But the Italian job is hard work for Townsend’s men
THE renaissance of the Scotland team under Gregor Townsend continued in Florence yesterday but there was nothing pleasing on the eye in their performance.
Not that putting on an artistic show in keeping with playing in the beautiful Italian city will bother the Scotland head coach.
It may have been well short of a masterpiece display but that is still five wins in a row for his side and one where a below-par Scotland still emerged victorious.
The positives included a man-of-the-match performance from winger Duhan van der Merwe, who scored one of Scotland’s four tries, and a decent second-half display from the forwards.
The pick of the big men up front was prop Zander Fagerson, who went over the line almost apologetically and in slow motion as the Italian defence stood like statues watching him.
The other two tries came from second-row Scott Cummings and replacement hooker George Turner.
All the other points were from the boot of Duncan Weir, who slipped off a tackle in the build-up to the opening Italian try but recovered to put in a consistent rather than spectacular showing in the absence of injured No10s Finn Russell and Adam Hastings.
The down sides — and there were a few — included early injuries to flanker Jamie Ritchie and prop Rory Sutherland, with both having to go off within the first 16 minutes.
There were a lot of handling errors and influential players such as captain Stuart Hogg tried to force the game too much.
Despite those negatives in their opening Autumn Nations
Cup tie, this was yet another Scotland win. One more against France at BT Murrayfield on Sunday will make it six in a row
— a sequence last achieved by the 1990 Grand Slam-winning team.
The margin of victory flattered Scotland. They were lucky to be down by just 11-7 at half-time as the opening period was dominated by the hosts, who came flying out of the blocks and never let the pace drop in the first half.
Their confidence was helped in the opening minute when they won a penalty at the scrum, which set the tone for their early ascendancy at the set-piece.
Cummings usually keeps his discipline but, after five minutes, he was caught offside, which gifted Paolo Garbisi a simple penalty to put Italy ahead.
Cummings wasn’t the only Scot having the odd rush of blood early on, with Hogg caught in possession near his own try line and only a clearance kick from Weir saved the day.
After only 12 minutes Ritchie, who has been in fantastic form, had to go off after picking up a head knock. With Nick Haining replacing him, the forwards had to regroup — but they continued to be bullied.
Four minutes later, things got even worse for the visitors. Sutherland picked up an ankle injury when he collapsed the scrum — handing the Italians a penalty. He left the stadium on crutches.
Oli Kebble’s introduction made little difference to begin with as Garbisi put over another penalty when the Scots were penalised at a line-out.
However, totally against the run of play, Scotland took the lead in 22 minutes. Italian captain Luca Bigi was caught offside but rather than give Weir a simple effort at goal, Hogg asked his fly-half to kick into the corner.
Jonny Gray took the line-out throw from Stuart McInally and Scotland slowly made their way across the pitch with Ali Price the ringmaster.
It was the scrum-half who made the first break with his offload, allowing Gray to get near the line. When the ball was recycled back to
Price, he fed Van der Merwe who ran a short, hard line before crashing over. Weir added the extras.
Scotland’s try may have been well worked but the Italian one was full of individual brilliance.
Mattia Bellini made the first break, then offloaded to Marcello Violi. When he looked up, Marco Zanon and then Bellini again were there to feed full-back Matteo Minozzi, who scored a superb try.
The Italians were well worth their half-time lead but rode their luck in the first few minutes of the second. They went to sleep defensively when Weir was on the ball and had Chris Harris and Sam Johnson outside him.
Weir found Harris, who did well to get the ball out to Johnson. It seemed as though his pass for Weir to score was good. It was only when the incident was looked at again by the TMO did it show the final ball had been fractionally forward.
Townsend’s men did draw level in rather strange circumstances in 49 minutes when the Italian defence went to sleep again. Hamish Watson’s pass came off the fingers of Jake Polledri and into the arms of unlikely try scorer Fagerson, who strolled in unopposed to touch down. Weir converted.
Hogg then put his team in trouble when he carried the ball back over his own line to give Italy a put-in at the scrum five metres out.
The error cost the Scots three points as they were caught offside in the next play, which let Garbisi put over the penalty.
With 15 minutes left, Scotland won a penalty after Watson stole the ball at the breakdown, which led to the Italians being penalised. Hogg turned down the chance of an easy three points in favour of a kick to the corner. It was the right decision. From the throw-in taken by Gray, the forwards rumbled towards the line. Turner made some hard yards before being stopped just short. Price was up quickly with play to feed Cummings, who dived over. Weir’s conversion put the visitors four points ahead.
Van der Merwe needed to show his defensive skills to save his team when he grabbed the ball near his own line before taking it into traffic, allowing his forwards time to regroup and clear the danger.
The replacement props were starting to make a big difference with W P Nel winning a vital scrum penalty which allowed the Scots to slow things down.
Turner sealed the match with a one-handed touchdown four minutes from time. Weir put over the extras to secure a scrappy but ultimately confidence-boosting victory.
SCORERS; ITALY — Try: Minozzi. Pens: Garbisi (4). SCOTLAND — Tries: Van der Merwe, Fagerson, Cummings, Turner. Cons: Weir (4).
Referee: Luke Pearce (Wales).