Price is right as Scots produce moments of magic to sink Italians
S C OT L A N D played 40 minutes of decent rugby in Rome, bookended by a pair of poor 20-minute spells.
They didn’t fire a shot for the opening quarter, then racked up five very decent tries in the Roman sunshine, and promptly went to sleep for the closing stages.
Coach Gregor Townsend was frustrated, admitting: “I was very happy with the first 50 minutes, Italy performed really well and were hard to break down, but going into that final quarter with a good lead on the scoreboard we were expecting to kick on even more.
“We’re disappointed we didn’t build on that really good 50 minutes. We have to work at putting in 80-minute performances.”
Scotland’s slump allowed Italy to do something they hadn’t in this Six Nations, score in the second half, and it was a debut to remember for Azzurri wing Ange Capuozzo who notched two tries after coming off the bench.
His second, scored after the clock had run down, belied his size – 5ft 9in and 10- and- a- half stone – and the fact he looks about 12 as he muscled his way over the whitewash.
Italy had only scored 16 points in this championship so allowing them to more than double their tally wasn’t great.
All three Italian tries – scrumhalf Callum Braley dotting down in the first half when he gathered Pierre Bruno’s offload after Stuart Hogg had stopped the big winger’s piledriving run just short of the line – came too easily from a Scots perspective.
Scotland had come into the championship hunting silverware and at least now they have the Massimo Cuttitta Cup – named after the former Italy prop and Scotland scrum coach who died of Covid a year ago – to add to the Calcutta Cup won on the opening weekend.
This performance, though, was like the re s t of their campaign, good in parts but bedevilled by schoolboy errors and dumb penalties.
Scotland have the worst disciplinary record in the Six Nations and they wasted no time in coughing up their 39th penalty of the campaign, Paolo Garbisi – who would add two conversions – banging over three points in just the fourth minute after yet another dull offence.
Thankfully the Scots had that purple patch in which, unlike previous games in which chance after chance has gone abegging, they turned almost every visit to Italy’s 22 into a try.
And the man who did most for the travelling team’s cause was one who many felt shouldn’t be on the pitch, Ali Price.
The scrum- half has been offform since touring with the Lions and there were calls for understudy Ben White, who has pepped Scotland up after coming on, to start in the Stadio Olimpico.
But it seemed like the occasion of winning his 50th cap had put the spring back into Price’s step as he was back to his sniping, teasing best, probing defences and scampering through gaps.
Price also got his half- back partner Finn Russell – who’d kick four conversions – out of jail after the latter’s poor pass put his side in trouble just after Sam Johnson had scored the first try,
Italy were threatening but Price intercepted a pass and set off up the pitch, lobbing the ball out wide to Kyle Steyn who in turn chipped it back into the centre where Chris Harris had time and space to gather and flop down behind the posts.
Harris notched a second, thundering in on a terrific angle and crashing over from a scrum to give Scotland their biggest interval lead – 19- 10 – in Rome since the Six Nations began.
And they had the bonus point in the bag shortly after the break when Hogg broke up the touchline, Russell’s pop pass put in Darcy Graham and the wing used his dancing feet to dart round a defender and over the whitewash.
On the hour Price saw a gap, scampered through it and his lofted pass out wide allowed Hogg to speed in for the Scots’ fifth but then they hit the snooze button.