Scotland get campaign back on track

MATCH REPORT: Scotland got their Six Nations campaign up and running again on Saturday with a bonus point 33-22 win over battling Italy which continued their opponent’s miserable losing streak in the competition.

* To recap the drama, CLICK HERE!

Chris Harris scored two first-half tries with Sam Johnson, Darcy Graham and Stuart Hogg also dotting down at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome to move Scotland level on 10 points with England, who Gregor Townsend’s team had beaten in their opening match.

Finn Russell kicked eight more points in an exciting win after consecutive defeats to Wales and France, who are chasing a Grand Slam following their win in Cardiff on Friday.

Italy, who played well and scored three tries through Callum Braley and a brace from replacement Ange Capuozzo, are now guaranteed a 17th wooden spoon.

They are six points behind fifth-placed Wales, who they face in Cardiff next week in their final game.

“We’re delighted with the win,” said Scotland coach Gregor Townsend.

“It’s been a tough venue for Scotland over the years. We played well until the 50-minute mark and after that we weren’t as good. That’s the best I’ve seen Italy play over the last couple of seasons.

“Maybe we thought they’d crack, but you have to keep your intensity up against all opposition.”

The day started well for Italy with Paolo Garbisi slotting over the first points of the game in the third minute of what was a scrappy contest in the early stages.

However, two errors in the space of four minutes allowed the Scots to dot down twice and give themselves a healthy lead just as they looked to be having a difficult day.

First, a poor tackle on George Turner allowed Scotland to build a sweeping move from right flank to left which culminated in Johnson diving home in the 18th minute.

Then, with the crowd roaring on the home side as they built pressure deep in Scotland’s 22, Ali Price popped out of his defensive line to intercept and burst into the open field before unloading for Kyle Steyn.

Capuozzo impresses

On his first Six Nations start Steyn then lofted a perfect kick over the top of a sparse defence for Harris to score.

With thoughts of another horror show starting to cross the mind of Italy fans their team bounced straight back to cut the gap to 10-12 thanks to Callum Braley.

The Benetton scrumhalf, playing in place of Stephen Varney, ran in for a try converted by Garbisi after Pierre Bruno just managed to unload the crucial pass before the Scotland defence forced him into touch.

The wave of enthusiasm that enveloped the Olimpico was soon pushed back though, with Harris scoring his second try after a scrum in Italy’s 22 allowed Russell and Hogg to combine and release the Gloucester centre.

Graham then struck the killer blow six minutes after the restart when he darted and weaved his way through three attempted tackles to cap a solid spell of Scotland pressure and leave Italy with almost no chance of recovery.

Stuart Hogg’s converted try then extended the gap to 33-10 as Italy looked to have spent all their energies in their combative first half.

However, Capuozzo made sure his debut would be a memorable one with a neatly worked try, converted by Garbisi, which gave the match a more respectable scoreline and sparked the hosts back to life.

Grenoble fullback Capuozzo struck again with the match already past the 80 minutes, cutting the gap to 11 points with another well-worked try which earned Italy applause from the Rome crowd as they trudged off following their latest loss.

The scorers

For Italy
Tries: Braley, Capuozzo 2
Cons: Garbisi 2
Pen: Garbisi

For Scotland
Tries: Johnson, Harris 2, Russell, Hogg
Cons: Russell 4

Teams

Italy: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Pierre Bruno, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Montanna Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Michele Lamaro (captain), 6 Giovanni Pettinelli, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Ivan Nemer, 18 Giosuè Zilocchi, 19 David Sisi, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Alessandro Fusco, 22 Marco Zanon, 23 Ange Capuozzo

Scotland: 15 Stuart Hogg (captain), 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Sam Johnson, 11 Kyle Steyn, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Rory Darge, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Sam Skinner, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Jamie Hodgson, 20 Magnus Bradbury, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Adam Hastings, 23 Sione Tuipulotu.

Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (England), Craig Evans (Wales)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)