Italy have lost 24 in a row – but they have a chance today
There are two games this weekend in Wales v France and England v Ireland which will go a long way towards determining the outcome of the Six Nations Championship. A victory for any of those four teams is seismic. Then you have Italy v Scotland, where the desperation might be even greater to avoid defeat. Italy are on a run of 24 defeats in the Six Nations. This probably represents their best chance to break that sequence. Scotland at home is the one game they target every two years.
From what I have seen of their matches, there have been some signs of improvement under Franco Smith, but they need that “W”. Lose again and questions about their status in the Six Nations become all the louder.
For Scotland and particularly Gregor Townsend the stakes are just as high. Coming off the back of a disappointing World Cup campaign, they need a victory to demonstrate that he has got the show back on the road. They have played well in patches against Ireland and England, but crucially they have not been clinical enough to press home their advantage.
I was pitchside for the start of the England game. The conditions were even worse than they looked on TV. But they are the same for both teams and it was a case of who plays them best. I felt Scotland tried to be too cute at times, particularly in not kicking at goal when they had penalties around the 22 and going for the drivingmaul try. Take the points is a maxim I wish was tattooed on to the palms of every Scotland player.
There are clearly a lot of good players who are not quite clicking. It is like in golf; when you are not thinking about the game, you can hit a perfect shot down the fairway. When you shank it into the bushes, you can over-analyse what you are doing, which makes you become even more clunky. That is the way Scotland are at the moment.
I still believe they have enough quality to get the job done in Rome, where they do not have the best of records. I know because I was part of the first Scotland side to lose there in the Six Nations 20 years ago. I should say it was not all my fault, as I was only a sub.
We did not even get a night out in Rome. Straight after the game, myself, Gary Armstrong, George Graham and Alan Tait had to jump in a taxi to the airport to play in a game for Newcastle Falcons on the Sunday. That shows how the professional era has changed. We were happy to do it because we were delighted to play for our country and were still blown away by the fact that we were being paid to play for our clubs.
If Scotland lose I can imagine a few people asking for players to be back playing for their clubs on Sunday morning again.