Scotland run riot as nightmare campaign for Italy ends with another hammering

The victory was Scotland’s biggest-ever winning margin in the Six Nations and brought the curtain down on a horror campaign for the Italians

Sat, 20 Mar, 2021 - 16:26

Scotland 52 Italy 10

Scotland have beaten Italy 52-10 in their Guinness Six Nations match at Murrayfield.

With eight tries scored, the victory was Scotland’s biggest-ever winning margin in the Six Nations and brought the curtain down on a horror campaign for the Italians.

For Scotland however, they still have to play France next weekend in Paris.

Scotland's Hamish Watson is tackled by Italy's Sebastian Negri. Picture: Jane Barlow

Scotland made a nightmare start as Luca Bigi took advantage of some woeful maul defence to put Italy ahead after six minutes.

But the Scots roared back as Dave Cherry squeezed over at the other end just four minutes later, with Duhan van der Merwe then putting Townsend’s team ahead after a fantastic drive up field.

Federico Mori saw yellow card for a reckless shoulder hit on opposite number Sam Johnson and Scotland were quick to exploit their temporary man advantage when Sean Maitland charged to within sight of the line.

Huw Jones took over but was immediately pounced upon by Mattia Bellini before he could score. But there was no salvation for the Azzurri as Jones popped a pass off the ground for Darcy Graham to jog over.

Italy looked stunned.

Paolo Garbisi tried to take some pressure off his side by pinning the Scots down in their own 22 with a high kick – but the pace at which Townsend’s team were playing was simply too quick for Franco Smith’s men to cope with.

Scotland's Stuart Hogg is tackled by Juan Ignacio Brex of Italy. Picture: INPHO/Ryan Byrne

Van Der Merwe chewed up ground down the left before passing to Hogg. His immediate offload to Jones caught Italy by surprise, with the Glasgow centre charging through a huge gap for another easy try as the Scots went in 24-10 up at the break.

The half-time whistle brought merciful respite for Italy – but it was only brief, as Cherry scored his second try with a carbon copy of his first, peeling off the base of a maul before diving for the line from close range.

Italy’s troubles worsened again as Sebastian Negri was given a stint in the bin for a deliberate knock-on, with scrum-half Scott Steele – so impressive with his tempo around the breakdown – this time capitalising as he followed Johnson’s quick dart towards the line to crawl over for try number six after 52 minutes.

Italy's Monty Ioane dejected after Scotland score another try. Picture: INPHO/Ryan Byrne

By the time Negri was back on, Mori had already headed past him as he was also sin-binned for a tip tackle on Hogg.

And the tries continued to flood in.

Johnson got a richly-deserved score with 15 minutes left as Scotland took a quick tap penalty, while Van Der Merwe added his second in the 71st minute, careering through the Italian ranks to score from halfway.