Key events
Pre match reading
It’s 25 years since the Six Nations was created, thus rendering Scotland Five Nations champions in perpetuity. Relive the 2000 tournament here with this brilliant collection of images and memories.
Teams
Sione Tuipolotu’s absence brings Stafford McDowall into the inside centre berth and hands the captaincy to both Finn Russell and Rory Darge (no I don’t get it either). Jonny Gray returns to lock after a near two-year absence from the squad.
Italy welcome Tommaso Allan back in the 15 shirt following his self-imposed break for fatigue and family reasons, moving Ange Capuozzo to the wing. In the forwards, Dino Lamb and Lorenzo Cannone return while Lorenao’s brother Niccolo and Exeter’s Ross Vintcent are on the bench.
Scotland: Blair Kinghorn, Darcy Graham, Huw Jones, Stafford McDowall, Duhan van der Merwe, Finn Russell, Ben White, Pierre Schoeman, Dave Cherry, Zander Fagerson, Jonny Gray, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Rory Darge, Matt Fagerson.
Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Rory Sutherland, Will Hurd, Gregor Brown, Jack Dempsey, George Horne, Tom Jordan, Kyle Rowe.
Italy: Tommaso Allan; Ange Capuozzo, Juan Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Martin Page-Relo; Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera, Simone Ferrari; Dino Lamb, Federico Ruzza; Sebastian Negri (capt), Michele Lamaro, Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: Gianmarco Lucchesi, Luca Rizzoli, Marco Riccioni, Niccolò Cannone, Manuel Zuliani, Ross Vintcent, Alessandro Garbisi, Simone Gesi.
Give me a shout with all your thoughts via this very email. I welcome all submissions, but be warned I ignore the stroppy ones.
Preamble
Another Six Nations campaign begins for Scotland and Italy here at Murrayfield, with both teams perched on a higher ledge on the rockface of improvement that at any time in the recent past.
Gregor Townsend’s side are looking to move beyond the team that is pretty much the sporting manifestation of Sex Panther cologne: “60% of the time, it works every time”. Pushing into being in with a real shout of winning the whole thing come Super Saturday has to be the goal, as even with the loss of Sione Tuipulotu and a few others to injury this squad remains good enough to win the whole thing in this year of putatively less formidable opposition.
Italy had their best tournament in years in 2024. While the core of the squad that beat today’s opponents in Rome twelve months ago remains, they have since spluttered through a loss to Samoa, a hammering by Argentina and barely squeaked past Georgia among a litany of meh in the last nine months. Added to this is the wretched form of Benetton Treviso, the club side that makes up the vast majority of the national side. Gonzalo Quesada has worked some wonders with his team and his skills as a coach will be tested once more here. The playing talent is there, however.
You to fancy a broadly confident Scotland at home to get a good handgrip as a base to pull further up that climb to the top.
