Rugby Union Six Nations Preview: Scotland vs Italy
The tournament’s wooden spoon showdown takes place at Rome, with the two teams that many predicted would be contesting the match present.
The tournaments wooden spoon showdown takes place at Rome, with the two teams that many predicted would be contesting the match present. How different, however, are the paths that they have taken to get here. Italy have looked, at best, lacking a cutting edge in attack during the Six Nations and at worst have looked thoroughly hopeless. So short of international quality is the number 10 Kris Burton that it has been enough for me to consider a number of times to move to Italy, qualify on residency grounds and be their next fly-half. It was always going to be a thankless task for new coach Jacques Brunel; following in the footsteps of Nick Mallet and his relatively successful tenure in charge of the Azzurri. Yet, with no major international retirements and only a handful of injuries to key men, such as Martin Castrogiovanni, who returns for this match, and stand-off Luciano Orquera who had performed amicably in his last run in the side, the Italians were expected to be a bit more competitive than they have been during this tournament, as they were prior to the World Cup. Scotland, on the other hand, have shown a great deal of promise throughout the Six Nations. It has been written before on What Culture the amount of line breaks Scotland have made through the tournament and they have unearthed some international class players, such as David Denton, Ross Rennie and Stuart Hogg. However, as prop Allan Jacobsen has iterated this week, promise and excuses are running thin with the team who are desperate to get back to winning ways. Despite all of Scotlands endeavour, last weeks heavy defeat against Ireland was a significant step backwards for Andy Robinsons side and it is never easy to defeat Italy in Rome. Robinsons position does look safe, after being allowed to recruit ex-Ospreys man Scott Johnson as his assistant after the tournament, as well as a much needed new defensive coach, in the form of Matt Taylor. A defeat and a wooden spoon, however, may well change things.