6 NATIONS INTERNATIONAL TEST RUGBY: Italy Meets Scotland

19.03.2011
Italy v Scotland at Murrayfield (6 Nations)

Referee: Steve Walsh (Australia)

Preview
Well, here we go again. Scotland and Italy are playing to avoid the wooden spoon in the 6 Nations International Championship. Italy has the momentum to continue their winning way after their historic win against France last weekend. But can they pull off two wins in a row? They are yet to do that in the eleven seasons they have been in the competition.

Scotland is the team Italy loves to defeat. They have managed the feat five times since 2000. Can they do it again?

Last Five Encounters
27.02.2010 Italy 16-12 in Rome (6 Nations)
28.02.2009 Scotland 26-6 at Murrayfield (6 Nations)
15.02.2008 Italy 23-20 in Rome (6 Nations)
29.09.2007 Scotland 18-16 in Saint Etienne (World Cup, Pool C)
24.02.2007 Italy 37-17 at Murrayfield (6 Nations)

Italy Last Five
12.03.2011 v France W 22-21 in Rome (6 Nations; Garibaldi Trophy)
26.02.2011 v Wales L 16-24 in Rome (6 Nations)
12.02.2011 v England L 13-59 at Twickenham (6 Nations)
05.02.2011 v Ireland L 11-13 in Rome (6 Nations)
27.11.2010 v Fiji W 24-16 in Modena

Scotland Last Five
13.03.2011 v England L 16-22 at Twickenham (6 Nations)
27.02.2011 v Ireland L 18-21 at Murrayfield (6 Nations)
12.02.2011 v Wales L 6-24 at Murrayfield (6 Nations)
05.02.2011 v France L 21-34 in Paris (6 Nations)
27.11.2010 v Samoa W 19-16 at Aberdeen

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table-Italy 5th, Scotland 8th
Europe Table-Italy 2nd, Scotland 6th

IRB Ranking Points
Scotland 76.96, Italy 73.93

Prediction: I’m going for Italy to create history, and to win by 7 points

Teams

Scotland
15 Christopher Paterson, 14 Simon Danielli, 13 Joseph Ansbro, 12 Sean Lamont, 11 Nikki Walker, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Rory Lawson, 8 Kelly Brown, 7 John Barclay,
6 Nathan Hines, 5 Alastair Kellock, Capt. 4 Richard Gray, 3 Geoffrey Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Allan Jacobsen.
Replacements
16 Scott Lawson, 17 Euan Murray, 18 Richard Vernon, 19 Alasdair Strokosch, 20 Michael Blair, 21 Daniel Parks, 22 NicholasDe Luca.
Head Coach: Andy Robinson

Italy
15 Andrea Masi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Alberto Sgarbi, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Kris Burton, 9 Fabio Semenzato, 8 Sergio Parisse, Capt.
7 Paul Derbyshire, 6 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Carlo Antonio Del Fava, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Salvatore Perugini.
Replacements
16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Andrea Lo Cicero, 18 Valerio Bernabo, 19 Robert Barbieri, 20 Pablo Canavosio, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Luke McLean.
Head Coach: Nik Mallett