Scotland vs Italy Six Nations 2025 Review: Key Events, Stats & Opinions
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Lineups:
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Gregor Brown, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 George Horne, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Kyle Rowe
Italy: 1. Danilo Fischetti, 2. Giacomo Nicotera, 3. Simone Ferrari, 4. Dino Lamb, 5. Federico Ruzza, 6. Sebastian Negri, 7. Michele Lamaro (c), 8. Lorenzo Cannone, 9. Martin Page-Relo, 10. Paolo Garbisi, 11. Monty Ioane, 12. Tommaso Menoncello, 13. Ignacio Brex, 14. Ange Capuozzo, 15. Tommaso Allan.
Replacements: 16. Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17. Luca Rizzoli, 18. Marco Riccioni, 19. Niccolo Cannone, 20. Manuel Zuliani, 21. Ross Vintcent, 22. Alessandro Garbisi, 23. Simone Gesi.
*Lineups from Planet Rugby
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![1세트 크라운해태(마르티네스,노병찬) vs 하림(김준태,쩐득민)[웰컴저축은행 PBA 팀리그 25-26 3R]](https://www.fogolf.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1758178463_maxresdefault-770x515.jpg "1세트 크라운해태(마르티네스,노병찬) vs 하림(김준태,쩐득민)[웰컴저축은행 PBA 팀리그 25-26 3R]")
30 Comments
I am surprised that you watched this one live, I was not expecting an update until later, assuming you would have recorded and watched later. "Scotland being Scotland "summed it up beautifully.
I have significant concerns re the Scotland scrum, we were second best to Italy. I normally defend Finn, but there were a couple of moments that were close to unforgivable.
On a positive note, we showed some resilience.
Interesting from both sides tbh. Russell had a poor game but those outside him made up for it. Pack was on top but Schoeman and Fagerson under big pressure at scrum time. Same old stupid penalties well punished.
For Italy they couldn't get territory at all but were sharp and decisive enough to keep the scoreboard ticking. Stats wise Italy were dominated as much as Wales were last night but look what they did with what they had.
Italy had quite a few chances which they didn’t take so Scotland will be pleased, Italy will be disappointed not to get at least a bonus point.
Italy will trouble England,France and Ireland. They will easily beat Wales. Scotland v. Ireland will be same old story. The jocks will flatter to deceive and Ireland will win by 20.Italy will surprise one of the big 3.
It felt like a perfect opening game for Scotland. Competetive enough that we had to play some good rugby, but we were still able to win it fairly comfortably (in the end) and give some younger lads a bit of an intro. Next week is definitely going to be more of a challenge!
Stafford looked a little out of place, which is a shame cause he is a top player at Glasgow. Tom Jordan changed the game once he came on.
Huw might of got 3 tries, but my POTM was Ben White. His kicking and delivery was pretty much perfect today
The award going through the 'gallagher' is just another example of the English bias you get in UK media coverage.
So far my annual donation to Ladbrokes is safe, not for long though I suspect
rusty performance, would rather a hard match to start and finish in style than a walkover. Hope they nail it next week. I will be in the crowd for that one
As skilful as Russell is he can be a liability with his forced passes and poor decisions
I have to say the refing of the breakdown was v poor. Jordan at 12 looked good and physically strong for the position
Russell was at his over-rated worst today and our game was littered with the usual stupid mistakes at times. Failed to turn dominance into a scoreline that reflected what was happening on the pitch. But turning it around was a good response to the 19-19 score.
Thank heavens for Jones, Graham, Darge and Jordan. And credit to Italy for an impressive performance.
The one thing that bothers me as a Scotland fan was that there was an opportunity to make a statement against Italy The opportunity was when we were 14-0 up.That's the time to turn the screw, pile on the points and make Ireland and France somewhat fearful about playing against this team. But we opened the door and welcomed Italy back, making it nip and tuck with 19-19. Yes, we showed strong resistance at the end defending for 15 mins without the ball and not conceding a try, however, it communicates this one undeniable fact about Scotland – there is a soft underbelly to this team.
Other teams will know that despite being on the back foot, all it takes is one penalty to swing the momentum. When the momentum accumulates, Scotland panic, and scramble BUT then squeeze it out. I am stunned how this Scotland team can't just kill a wounded animal when its limb is already missing. YES, we have talent. YES, we have potential. But we don't have the composure, reliance, or the experience to kill the game.
If we don't finish second, Townsend OUT.
The Italian support in Edinburgh was unreal, genuinely louder than us in Murrayfield at times
If Scotland are to beat Ireland, the minimum is that they bring their A game for the entire 80 minutes and Ireland fail to bring theirs. On the balance of probability that is unfortunately unlikely, if not entirely impossible.
Had my first look live at Italy, in a long thing and the thing that really struck me was how good they were at remaining in the game, considering the paucity of their possession.
Discipline, discipline, discipline… As always. Without the penalties it was a pumping 31-7. Well done on getting it back together, old Scotland would have panicked and collapsed. Italy were no mugs either, I think they should beat Wales pretty comfortably.
Too many basic errors from Scotland, Indiscipline remains a major issue – god knows what it takes for Scotland to keep calm and keep focus.Russell had his worst game in ages but I expect him to rectify that next week, if not we are in serious trouble.
However if you said at start that we got 5pts and Italy got none I would have taken that
hard not to give POTM to the hatrick scorer but there was such a case for Darge had his fingerprints all over this game.
A frustrating game for Scotland but plenty of positives, came through a tricky spell and still one fairly strongly, you could argue the score line flatters Italy somewhat, but they take points when on offer. I think their first entry into the 22 was their intercept try, but did not really threaten otherwise, a couple of moments where they had numbers but didn’t execute. Defensively also we prevented Italy getting their dangerous back 3 to influence the game.
The defining factor in the outcome was the impact off the benches, I thought TJ probably the standout, made some good tackles and added a bit of composure. Big Shug Jones well worth his motm award, took his tries well but also made some important defensive contributions too, pleased for him as a few folk wondered how influential he could be without his partner in crime Sione!
Lots to fix for next week, but hopefully no further injuries!
Italy weren't worth 19 points but fair play. Took their chances.
Gutted for McDowall, felt he bled points & position for us, hopefully better days to come from him. Darcy Graham mom for me, his impact in the last 2 tries was magnificent. Huw Jones has my man love. What a player.😂
Thanks for your summary. Long shift. What man!
Italians shows some fight
Which was good to see!
Well done to Scotland on the win
Is shepherding no longer a penalty. On Scotland’s two last tries the ball carrier ran behind teammates to avoid being tackled.
Italy are improving dramatically. Their fans unreal!! Re Scotland, great team but cant keep switching off…
Wales in big trouble next week
Italy chose not to attack and gave away each possession in the first 60', while Scotland was on an attacking rampage…bad strategy from Quesada.
Finn cannot be both Stand off & captain. He is much better concentrating on stand off. Kudos to him for stepping up when Sione got injured, but we will be a better side with a single Captain. Give it to Darge.
I think it's a tragedy that it's possible for a game with 5 tries to 1 to become such a close thing at one point. England in the past used to win games with only penalties. It makes for turgid rugby IMO. If we want to watch great rugby then why not reward the teams scoring tries? Your stats back that up I'd say. 3 points for a penalty is way too many points to make for attractive rugby games. Also means if you get a ref who wants to be in the limelight they can influence the game very easily.
It was anything but comfortable and at 19 – 19 it was decidedly uncomfortable .
5 tries to 1 sounds like a romp, so why wasn't it ?
Indiscipline and Fin Russell showing why he'll never be world class imho.
Cut out the pens Scotland FGS 😮
More importantly, did you stay up late or rise early for the match ?
Its the first game and fingers crossed we peak nearer the end of the tournament. Its about getting better and better game by game.