Hamish will be hoping that lightning cannot strike twice
Hamish Watson had a debut to forget for Scotland.
He was a second-half replacement against Italy in 2015, when a last-gasp penalty- try saw the Azzurri clinch victory.
It remains their most-recent win in the Six Nations, and Scotland went on to notch a winlesswooden Spoon.
Now, after defeat in their opening two games, Watson knows a repeat of that result would be catastrophic for Scotland – and their under-fire coach Gregor Townsend.
“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,” says Watson.
“It’s always a game that’s tough. We know it’s a game they sometimes target as well.
“They looked really good against France. But then started slowly against Wales, though we know how hard playing against the Welsh away from home is.
“It’s going to be a massive but we are all professional rugby players and it’s about how you handle that pressure.
“This is a huge game and if we can get the win in Italy then our tournament is right back on track.
“We’ve had some really tough games in Rome which could have swung either way. We know how tough they will be, given they haven’t won a game since 2015.
“We will go there and treat them as though they have won every game. We can’t be underprepared against them as that’s when we will lose.”
When his Dark Blue debut is brought up, the 30-cap flanker says: “Brilliant. What a lovely stat, so thanks for mentioning it!
“I was also yellow- carded in the last minute, so that’s another memory. It was actually an OK debut apart from that.
“If this was my second cap, then I’d probably be thinking about that game but it’s long gone.
“It was a long time ago, and we were in a bad place during that Six Nations. It was my Test debut, so I look back fondly on that memory whether we lost or not.”
The back row is an area of strength for the Italians, as Watson admits:
“Italy have a really good back row, they have a big pack so we will need to front up.
“We have defended really well in the first two games, apart from the moment on our own line against England.
“We looked pretty comfortable against Ireland as well. But it’ll be a different challenge against Italy.
“They are all pretty good ball- carriers in that back row, so we need to front-up and be more physical.”
Watson is part of an all-edinburgh back three alongside 23- year- old Jamie Ritchie and Magnus Bradbury, 24.
He says of his club-and-country cohorts:“they both bring something a bit different to the party.
“We all know what‘maggie’ can do on the ball. He’s a big ball-carrier, 120 kilos, physical and abrasive. That’s why the coaches love him.
“He’s great in the line-out, as is Jamie, who’s also a big jackling threat and links up well with the backs.
“There is good balance in this back row at the minute.
“It’s important to have that young blood coming in as they are all really ambitious, as we all are.
“We have lost our first two games but have played pretty decent in both of them.
“I know it’s an annoying thing to say but we could, and maybe should, have won both of them.
“We are a close-knit group and we are doing well off the field. It’s only a matter of time before we get a few performances.”