AT THIS LEVEL, IT’S ALL ABOUT WINNING

ITALY were massively fired up. The way their players absolutely belted out the national anthem made that clear right from the start.

The Italians are a young team trying to evolve under new head coach Franco Smith. What we saw from them yesterday was a clear improvement.

Particularly in the first half, they were excellent. They dominated in pretty much every department, scored a brilliant try, and, truth be told, Scotland were fortunate only to be 11-7 down at the break.

I don’t imagine Gregor Townsend would have been screaming and shouting at half-time But, still, he wouldn’t have been happy.

He obviously delivered a very firm message to his players that the first half simply wasn’t good enough — so full credit to them for turning it around.

Trust me, that’s one of the hardest things to do as a player. When things are going wrong and the game is slipping away from you, it’s so hard to turn it around.

Momentum counts for so much, so I was impressed by the way in which Scotland were able to wrestle control of the match back from Italy.

We know Scotland can look great when they are playing front-foot rugby. But what is impressing me now is that this team are finding different ways to win.

They are winning the sort of tight games which could easily have slipped away from them in previous years.

Scotland are also now finding solutions on the pitch and identifying ways of correcting things mid-match. They are adapting to what the in-game situations demand from them.

Losing two key players like

Jamie Ritchie and Rory Sutherland was a massive blow, but they found a way of weathering the storm and getting through it.

That’s credit to Townsend. It wasn’t all that long ago that questions were being asked of his position as head coach, but he has moulded Scotland into a more well-rounded team.

That’s five wins on the bounce now for Scotland. They’ll have a huge job on their hands to make it six when France come calling at BT Murrayfield next weekend.

France are arguably the form team in world rugby at the moment. There’s so much attacking talent on both sides, so I genuinely believe it could be the pick of the games in the whole Autumn Nations Cup if both teams turn on the style.

Duhan van der Merwe will be one of Scotland’s most potent weapons. After another try yesterday, he’s going to be a star at Test level.

Four tries and a bonus-point win made it look comfortable for Scotland yesterday. But anyone who watched the game knows it was anything but easy.

It was a stern test. But it’s another feather in the cap of Townsend and his players that they dug deep and found a way of getting the job done.