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Scots held nerve to beat Italy, says satisfied Townsend

football01 February 2025 18:13| © AFP
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Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend praised the mental strength of his side after they beat Italy 31-19 in their Six Nations opener at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Townsend embarking on his eighth Six Nations campaign, with the Scots seeking their first title since the final Five Nations tournament in 1999, had slapped the coaches box in frustration at one point in the first-half.

However upset he was at a succession of missed chances, the 51-year-old was impressed by how his side pulled themselves together after the Italians levelled the match at 19-19 with less than 20 minutes to go.

Two quick-fire tries by Huw Jones, who grabbed three in all, saw them home.

"The most important element today was the mental challenge," Townsend told the BBC.

"To come together as a team on the field, find solutions and find a way to win, which will be important in the next games."

Townsend was especially proud of the manner in which his pack had held their opponents, who are renowned for their scrummaging.

"I think a lot of the forwards provided a platform at times, they worked really hard," said Townsend.

"We had to defend our line on two or three occasions in that second half so it was a tough opening game but we managed to get the win."

Although the Scots scored five tries, and for this match at least did not miss their injured captain Sione Tuipulotu, mercurial fly-half Finn Russell was far from happy.

"We left five tries out there and we need to be a lot better," said Russell.

Russell showed both his good side and bad on the pitch, his intercepted pass allowing the Italians to draw level as Juan Ignacio Brex scored a converted try.

However, a moment of individual brilliance by Darcy Graham set up Jones for his second try and gave them some breathing space.

"It was a big turning point," said Jones. "There wasn't really anything on for him but Darcy will find a gap when there isn't one. I just had to try and keep up with him."

'DID NOT PERFORM' 

Jones, 31, said the victory was valuable but with two-time defending champions Ireland visiting next weekend they will keep their feet firmly on the ground.

"I don't want to say that our confidence is sky high, we're happy with the win today but our focus is on taking it week by week," said Jones.

The Italian backs, who dazzled in last year's championship including the victory over the Scots, had a quiet day.

Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada acknowledged as much.

"Not everything worked in attack and that means something is missing in our work," said the 50-year-old Argentinian.

"The difference was at 19-19. We have to work to not lose those balls and get caught on the break.

"It's a shame because it was a good fightback."

Italy captain Michele Lamaro said the difference was the Scots slowed down his side's delivery of the ball.

"It was a very tough game," said the 26-year-old backrow forward.

"We stayed in it. At halftime we were 10 points down and we had not played.

"We wanted to show something in the second-half and we did for a few moments go to 19-19 but we weren't able to perform in atack and that cost us a lot.

"They put us under a lot of pressure in the breakdown and we were unable to solve the problem.

"But honestly we did not perform."

The defeat makes next Saturday's home game against a Wales side desperate to end its record 13 test losing run, and on the end of a 43-0 humbling by France, a potential wooden spoon decider.

"It is a huge match for us and them," said Lamaro.

"Obviously we have a day less then them to recover and then straight back into training knowing we can do better."

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