ITALY v SCOTLAND: 6 Nations International Championship

28.02.2015

Venue: Murrayfield

Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

Preview
It was inevitable that Scotland and Italy will clash to probably decide the holder of the wooden spoon for this tournament. Recent from both sides leaves us little choice.

Scotland have the advantage of the home ground. They have also put together impressive performances both against France and recently Wales. Take into account their good performances in the November internationals and it’s easy to see the impact coach Vernan Cotter has had on this side. Sadly at the moment it is just not enough. Perhaps leading up to the World Cup Scotland will come into form as there is the hint they could surprise.

Italy has also shown a few glimpses of sparkle but that’s all it has been. No longer is their aging forward pack (Parisse apart) a dangerous menace in games. After a few bright performances over the last few seasons 2014-15 so far has been a disaster for the Azzuri. They have recieved a set back with injuries to experienced players Castrogiovanni and Masi, whilst Sarto is also injured.

Previous Encounters
22.02.2014 Scotland 22-20 in Rome (6 Nations)
22.06.2013 Scotland 30-29 in Pretoria (Quadrangular Tournament)
09.02.2013 Scotland 34-10 at Murrayfield (6 Nations)
17.03.2012 Italy 13-6 in Rome (6 Nations)
20.08.2011 Scotland 23-12 at Murrayfield (World Cup Warm-up)

The last time Italy defeated Scotland was in 2007. Italy won an amazing game 37-17

Italy Last Five P 5, W 1, L 4
14.02.2015 v England L 17-47 at Twickenham (6 Nations)
07.02.2015 v Ireland L 3-26 in Rome (6 Nations)
22.11.2014 v South Africa L 6-22 in Padova
14.11.2014 v Argentina L 18-20 in Genoa
08.11.2014 v Samoa W 24-13 in Ascoli Piceno

Scotland Last Five P 5, W 2, L 3
14.02.2015 v Wales L 23-26 at Murrayfield (6 Nations)
07.02.2015 v France L 8-15 in Paris (6 Nations)
22.11.2014 v Tonga W 37-12 at Kilmarnock
15.11.2014 v New Zealand L 16-24 at Murrayfield
08.11.2014 v Argentina W 41-31 at Murrayfield

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table: Scotland 6th, Italy 8th
Europe Table: Italy 5th, Scotland 6th

IRB Ranking Points
Scotland 77.11, Italy 71.19

Prediction: Scotland by 13 points.

Teams

Scotland
15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Thomas Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Alexander Dunbar, 11 Sean Lamont, 10 Peter Horne, 9 Greig Laidlaw, (Capt.), 8 John Beattie,
7 Blair Cowan, 6 Robert Harley, 5 Jonnathan Gray, 4 Timothy Swinson, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements
16 Fraser Brown, 17 Ryan Grant, 18 Geoffrey Cross, 19 Benjamin Toolis,
20 Hamish Watson, 21 Samuel Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Greig Tonks, 23 Matthew Scott.

Head Coach; Vern Cotter

Italy
15 Luke McLean, 14 Michele Visentin, 13 Luca Morisi, 12 Enrico Bacchin,
11 Giovambattista Venditti, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Simone Favaro, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 George Fabio Biagi, 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements
16 Andrea Manici, 17 Alberto De Marchi, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Marco Fuser, 20 Samuela Vunisa, 21 Guglielmo Palazzini, 22 Tommaso Allan, 23 Giulio Bisegni.

Head Coach: Jacques Brunel