GETTING ITALIAN JOB DONE
Attacking spark back as improved Azzurri put up fight but slack defending is concern for Irish finale
THIS was one of those rare occasions when everyone pretty much got what they deserved. Scotland were the better side and scored five tries in a bonus-point victory, while Italy emerged with plenty of credit and respectability from what was their best performance in this year’s Six Nations.
The Azzurri were never quite strong or accurate enough to put the final outcome in any genuine danger, but they were vastly improved from their opening three games against France, England and Ireland.
From a Scottish perspective, an 11-point margin of victory might not seem like much. But, although sloppy at times, there was no doubt that they were deserved winners in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.
The defence was a bit suspect, particularly late in the second half when they coughed up two tries inside the final 15 minutes as the home side finished strongly.
That will need to improve ahead of next weekend’s visit to Dublin, but most of the positives were to be found in an attacking unit which had previously failed to spark during the championship.
After damaging defeats against Wales and France, this was an afternoon when Gregor Townsend needed his senior players to step up and deliver — and they duly did so.
Ali Price was magnificent at scrum-half on what was his 50th cap, probably his best game since the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa last summer.
Captain Stuart Hogg led by example and was a key attacking weapon, scoring one of Scotland’s tries to extend his own record now to 26 for his country.
Finn Russell had a couple of shaky moments in the first half but played with far more verve, skill and imagination than what we had seen against Wales and France.
Russell was directly involved in the creation of three of Scotland’s five tries and he vindicated Townsend’s decision to stick with him after some sub-standard performances.
Chris Harris played with power and authority, scoring two tries in the first half as Scotland took control of the match against an Italian side who have now lost 36 games in a row in the Six Nations.
It was an excellent response from Harris, who had blundered so badly against France a fortnight ago with a wayward pass when the Scots had the try-line at their mercy. This was far more like it.
Price, Hogg, Russell and Harris — four of Scotland’s Lions contingent last summer and four of Townsend’s big hitters who put Italy to the sword.
Italy were competitive in the first half, before losing their way slightly for a period either side of half-time. But they finished strongly with two late tries, much to Scotland’s frustration.
The game was over as a contest by that point, with Scotland’s lethal counter-attacks a particular feature of what was an entertaining game of rugby.
It restores some pride for Townsend and his players, with a visit to face Ireland in Dublin now on the cards in the final game next weekend.
That still looks like it might be a tall order, but they at least avoided the banana skin of being the first team to lose to Italy in the championship since 2015.
Scotland made a slightly scrappy start to the match. It was errorstrewn, passes were going astray, and they conceded three penalties inside the opening 10 minutes.
Italy took an early 3-0 lead through the boot of fly-half Paolo Garbisi, before the Scots eventually clicked into gear on 18 minutes.
Hooker George Turner went on the rampage, smashing his way up the right wing and flattening Italy scrum-half Callum Braley in the process.
The ball was then fed back inside to Price and Darcy Graham, before
Russell looped an excellent pass out wide for Sam Johnson to score in the corner.
Just five minutes later, though, Russell almost put Scotland in serious trouble. Under no real pressure, he threw a slack pass just outside his own 22 which was intercepted by Toa Halafihi.
Italy suddenly had a prime position from which to launch an attack — only for them to make a mess of it and repeat the mistake which had just come from Russell.
Braley’s pass was intercepted by Price, who surged upfield before looping a pass out to Kyle Steyn on the left wing.
Steyn kicked over the top for Harris to eventually collect the ball and touch down, with Russell adding the extras from straight in front of the posts.
But Italy were showing signs of fluency in their attack — and it sparked into life quite brilliantly on the half-hour mark.
From a scrum inside the Scotland half, they launched a great move which looked like it might see winger Pierre Bruno score in the corner.
Bruno had bulldozed Hogg out of the way, before then popping an outstanding offload back inside for Braley to dive over.
It was a terrific piece of play from Bruno, whose nimble footwork had prevented him from being pushed into touch as Scotland sought to tackle him.
Garbisi converted as Italy moved within two points at 12-10. But Scotland stretched further clear on the cusp of half-time.
Just as the Italians had done, it was a strike move from a scrum. Russell and Hogg worked the ball to Harris, who hit a great line to score his second try of the day.
Russell converted to give the Scots a 19-10 lead at half-time — and, just eight minutes after the interval, they effectively ended the game as a contest.
After some excellent work from Hogg out wide, Russell fed a clever pass back inside for Graham, whose dancing feet saw him jink through to score.
Scotland had the bonus point and Russell’s conversion put them 26-10 ahead. It was now largely just a case of how many they would score. Hogg added another just after the hour-mark after the excellent Price had surged through a gap and found him with a great pass, with Russell nailing the conversion from out wide.
But Italy responded with another try through Ange Capuozzo. It was a fine team move, with Garbisi slotting the conversion.
And the Azzurri scored another in the final play of the game through debutant Capuozzo as they restored a bit more respectability to the scoreline.
Scotland were deserved winners, of that there was no doubt. But Italy had shown enough to suggest an element of progress had been made from their opening three games.
They head to Cardiff on the final day next weekend, whilst Townsend and his players head to Ireland searching for a first victory in Dublin since 2010.
Their performance level will need to go up a couple of gears. But this was an afternoon when their attacking unit finally sparked back into life.