ROME WASN’T KILT IN A DAY

Hamish: Italy pressure cooker not a one-off.. it’s up to us to handle it

Hamish Watson will always treasure his Scotland debut – so too will Italy.

Five years ago this month the Azzurri f loated off the Murrayfield pitch on the high of a 22-19 victory.

Given they haven’t won a Six Nations match since, not only was it a landmark occasion for the Italians – the dismal defeat served as Watson’s introduction to Test rugby.

The Edinburgh f l a n ker wou ld prefer to focus on better moments for his country, i nsist i ng that campaign was back in darker days.

And he’s adamant Gregor Townsend’s side are ready to launch a Si x Nat ions revival against the same opposition in Rome. Watson believes opening defeats to Ireland and England can go down as ancient history as long as they blitz Italy on

Saturday. Whether it is a wooden spoon decider or not remains to be seen.

But the 28-year-old knows facing a side also winless in this campaign, despite marked improvements in performances, is about mind over matter.

Watson, with 30 caps to his name, said: “We are all under a bit of pressure but even if we had won our opening two games then we’d still be under a massive amount of pressure going to Italy.

“It’s always a game that’s tough and we know it’s a game they sometimes target as well.

“They looked really good against France then started slowly against Wales. But we know it’s hard playing against the Welsh away from home. It’s going to be a massive contest against a side who looked a lot better against France.

“We are all professional rugby players and it’s about how you handle that pressure. We need to go to

Rome and show we can handle that pressure.

“This is a massive game and one where we can get ourselves back on track.

“If we can get the win in

Italy then our tournament is right back on track.”

A run of 24 straight defeats in the competition have followed for the Azzurri since storming Murrayfield in February 2015.

Vern Cotter was still in charge that afternoon as a last-gasp penalty try dumped the Scots in Watson’s first Test cap.

He said: “It’s a lovely stat so thanks for mentioning it.

“I was also yellow- carded in that game so that’s another memory.

“It was in the last minute and a team yellow so they just picked the guy who got to his feet last.

“It was actually an alright debut

We need to go to Rome and show that we can handle the pressure