Scotland avoided joining the ruins in Rome to ease the pressure on head coach Gregor Townsend with a hard-fought 17-0 victory over Italy.
In what was billed as the battle for the wooden spoon, a sensational Stuart Hogg try, relieving him of his recent demons following high-profile errors against Ireland and England, set the tone, before Chris Harris dotted down in the second half and Adam Hastings added a late score.
It extended Italy’s losing streak to 25 games in the Six Nations but the hosts can take positives from an encouraging performance in a match that was symptomatic of the plethora of clashes between the sides in Rome over the years.
Scotland went into the game – a “must-win” according to assistant coach Mike Blair – having narrowly lost their opening two Six Nations fixtures following a dismal World Cup campaign, with the Finn Russell saga continuing to cause Townsend a headache.
Italy were hungry, backed by a raucous crowd at the sun-bathed Stadio Olympico, aiming to end their dismal run in the competition.
Italy flew out their blocks with their high tempo style that had troubled France on occasions in the previous round. However, the contest became scrappy with Rory Sutherland particularly showing his strength in the scrum. The game began to be dominated by the breakdown area as Scotland turned the ball over 11 times in the first half alone.
The visitors were yet to score a try in the competition and their inefficient attack was on display as a knock-on from Magnus Bradbury scuppered hopes of an early score, before Hastings missed a comfortable penalty from within Italy’s 22.
In stark contrast to Scotland’s battle against England at Murrayfield two weeks ago in horrendous conditions, both sides exhibited free-flowing rugby when offered the chance. Mattia Bellini danced through Scotland’s defence in an early demonstration of the hosts exuberance and expansive style.
The talismanic Hogg, perhaps refreshed from a confidence-boosting performance for Exeter last weekend, broke the deadlock when he burst around the Italy defence, showing all his electric pace, sparking relief when he touched down in the corner. Italy, in spite of their good work and the questions they had asked of Scotland, were behind, as a Tommaso Allan penalty struck the post to compound their first-half frustrations.
Scotland continued to create and were perhaps unlucky not to extend their lead as an Ali Price try was ruled out for a forward pass and Jake Polledri expertly knocked the ball out of Jamie Ritchie’s hands on the line after Hamish Watson gained good ground on both occasions.
They eventually made their pressure count when Harris went over after 47 minutes following a patient attacking phase of play from Scotland before they released the ball wide and stretched the defence but Hastings missed the conversion.
Italy continued to fight but they suffered a second shutout of this year’s competition, their frustration compounded by Federico Zani being shown the yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Grant Gilchrist, before Hastings went over late on, following Scotland’s 21st turnover against the tiring Azurri.
