Italy vs Scotland - The Wooden Spoon Decider

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ITALY VS SCOTLAND

Date: Saturday 27th February 2016
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Kick Off: 2:25pm (GMT)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
TV Coverage: Live on ITV

Italy snatched a late 22-19 victory over Scotland in last season's corresponding fixture in Edinburgh.

Italy and Scotland have contested a total of 25 rugby test matches since their first meeting in 1996. Italy have won 8 of those matches, whilst Scotland have won 17.

Scotland are on a 9 game losing streak in the 6 Nations.

Teams

Italy

Starting XV
1. Andrea Lovotti
2 Leonardo Ghiraldini
3 Lorenzo Cittadini
4 Marco Fuser
5 Joshua Furno
6 Francesco Minto
7 Alessandro Zanni
8 Sergio Parisse
9 Edoardo Gori
10 Kelly Haimona
11 Mattia Bellini
12 Gonzalo Garcia
13 Michele Campagnaro
14 Leonardo Sarto
15 David Odiete

Replacements

16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matteo Zanusso,18 Martin Castrogiovanni,19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Edoardo Padovani, 23 Andrea Pratichetti.

Scotland

Starting XV
1. Alasdair Dickinson
2. Ross Ford
3. Willem Nel
4. Richie Gray
5. Johnny Gray
6. John Barclay
7. John Hardie
8. David Denton
9. Greig Laidlaw
10. Finn Russell
11. Tim Visser
12. Duncan Taylor
13. Mark Bennett
14. Tommy Seymour
15. Stuart Hogg

Replacements

16.Stuart MacInally 17. Rory Sutherland 18. Moray Low 19. Tim Swinson 20. Ryan Wilson 21. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne 22. Peter Horne 23. Sean Lamont

My player ratings:

Dickinson - 9

Annihilated his opposite number and 9 tackles - hell of a shift

Ford - 7

Part of the huge scrum effort but one wayward throw. 14 tackles in 60 odd minutes is a good effort

Nel - 8

Would have been a 9 apart from the yellow. Huge scrum shift and an impressive 10 tackles.

R Gray - 7

A menace in the lineout and plenty work rate as always

J Gray - 9

17 tackles 0 missed, 10 carries - many getting over the gainline.  Still 21. What a beast!

Barclay - 7

Growing into his role as a 6 but not convinced that's his best position. Contributed to our strong breakdown performance.

Hardie - 8

17 tackles and a complete menace at the breakdown,plus a try. We're very privileged to have him!

Wilson - 7

He's had a lot of stick on here but that was one of his best games for Scotland, albeit with a bad missed tackle on Parisee. If he's going to be picked for Scotland it should only be at 8 - he's not a 6

Laidlaw - 8

Exactly the kind of game that he's made for. Regardless on the speed of his service there's no doubting the significant influence he had on the game, and the ref!

Russell - 7

A real mixed bag, as is becoming common with him. Great break for the 2nd try and some nice touches, but also some mistakes too.

Visser - 6

Not really a game for the wingers and he struggled to get involved.

Taylor - 7

Thought he had a decent game and put his all into the defensive effort on our try line. Not in the class of a fit Dunbar but will get a decent number of caps I'm sure. Still think he's best served at 13!

Bennett - 6

Another quiet game - he's yet to make much of an impact this tournament

Seymour - 6

See Visser. Not sure he touched the ball in the first half!

Hogg - 8

What a fantastic talent with 2 assists to his name and a real livewire on the pitch. 81m, 5 defenders beaten.

Dickinson -  10 -  An absolute machine. He actually made it look like Italy just found some random fat git at a pub and asked him to play for Italy such was his dominance.

Ford - 7 -  part of that powerful scrum but was a tad absent in the loose today.

Nel -  8 -  good performance, his yellow was a bit daft though.

R Gray -  8 -  did as was asked, great linout and helped the scrum. Also seems have his sleeves rolled up and getting stuck into the dirty work.

J Gray - 9 - Herculean.

Barclay - 8 - great support line for that try and worked hard at the breakdown.

Hardie - 8 - Pure granite. It's like Jason White reborn.

Wilson - 7 - Has had his detractors on here, myself included. However he went some way to silence his critics and me with an industrious performance. His least uselessness the Navy Blue by some distance.

Laidlaw - 9 - kicked well, passed well, marshalled well and nipped the ref's ear well.

Russell - 7 - Missed a touch finder but distributed well.

Taylor - 8 - not so much work with the ball in hand but defended like a monster.

Bennett - 6 - Top quiet

Visser - 6 - one decent run

Seymour - 7 - did well in the air again

Hogg - 8 - fabulous performance again. 2 Assists and a howitzer of a boot that was brought to bear when necessary.

RDW_Scotland wrote:

Prothero wrote:The "edinburgh front row" is a thing to be feared and the cornerstone of this Scotland team. They have at least achieved parity with the opposition in every game they have played together and have dominated the best in the world. Both Dickinson and Nel played well today.

If Ford could get his lineout throwing up to par whats the chances of them going as a unit on the next lions tour? How many more years can we get out of these guys? Both Ford and Dickinson are in that "Prime for a frontrow" age Bracket.

Ford is a steady performer but there are better Lions hookers out there. His lack of dynamism is a concern but there's no doubt he contributes to the scrum effort.

Dickinson has signed a 2 year deal so should still be playing by the Lions your, and Nel will be coming right into his prime.

Cant help think that despite Dickinson and Nel being first class scrummagers in their own right its the collective unit including ford that is so tough to play against. Would be interesting if Ford wasn't available for whatever reason whether they would be so effective?

As a ex prop i love seeing Scotland scrummaging so well, Looking forward to them chopping down the monster's in the french front row then out technique the Irish power boys.

Good game. Scotland still found a way to concede 20 points but were clinical when they had the ball. Hardie, Dickinson and J Gray were dominant. Barclay was better on the blindside. Wilson somehow had a solid game with a couple of minor mistakes. Still prefer Strauss and Denton however he was serviceable. Laidlaw did not deserve MOTM but I was happy enough with his performance.

Bennett was injured in the lead up and some of these guys have played a lot of rugby in the last year. He might be a candidate to get a break if Scott is fit.

Nel should have a limit of 65 minutes. Low was good enough to win the final scrum without a real blindside supporting the scrum. Welsh was trusted with 20-30 minutes. We need Low or Fagerson to be good enough for 20 minutes. Nel gets worn out and becomes a liability outside of the scrum at this level. He had a great 70 minutes. That yellow ruined a very good performance.

Confidence should be supreme getting a first 6 nations win for some of these guys. France have looked poor and have relied on a big pack. This is a great chance to get 3 wins with some momentum.....

Tell you what, this winning lark feels amazing! We should do it more often!!!!

https://www.facebook.com/glove39/videos/1256711881010891/

My 5 cents..

first of all, well done Scotland for holding on to win that game!!

An explosive start quickly looked like Italy may be back in the game before half time. Luckily Scotland were dominant in the scrum and despite a few 50/50 calls managed to keep ahead on the scoreboard until he end.

Unfortunately, I feel the ref today was very inconsistent to both sides throughout the match. As a Scotland fan I felt Barclay was unfairly penalised in the opening 10 mins resulting in 3 points for Italy (happy to be proved wrong but it seemed he was on his feet and over he ball and Italy were clearly not releasing). I also think the ref was very hesitant to blow the whistle in the 1st half then seemed to blow it much quicker for penalty offences in the 2nd half.

Having watched last nights game and then todays, it was a totally different style of refereeing in many instances.

Scotland got the win but the ref certainly made it hard for them at times. Just to reiterate, I rarely look to blame the ref, but today I felt time and time again he was deliberately ignoring obvious penalty offences, killing the natural flow of the game.

I wouldn't say it was a poor performance from the ref, just very inconsistent.

On another winning note, did anyone catch the club international score? No? Well, our Scottish Club XV beat English Counties 57-27! 9 tries to 3.

Highlights here

RDW_Scotland wrote:For what it's worth I think 8 is Wilson's best position, but that's like saying Dunfermline is the best part of Fife!

But it is... In both cases

More quality Scotsman journalism - Dickinson and Nel were given 7/10, the same as Seymour!

Apparently they had the same influence on the match...

Dickinson scrummaged so strongly the Italian tighthead was lifted from the ground at one stage...

Did the journalist write that whilst still inebriated?

The ratings for Seymour are a bit stingy, I'd say he's a 7 at least as defensively he was solid, took his try well. That makes 13 tries in 25 caps, already he's 4 times better than Lamont who got the same in 100!

Agree RE Dickinson, what an absolute beast, chunk who?

And John Hardie, well I was one of the cynics when he got parachuted in but my God, that man is like a wild dog! Reminds me a little bit of Lewis Moody on peak form.

Also kudos to Wilson, pleasantly surprised me, although it's clear 8 is still a problem area, I honestly think we should shift Barclay there and put Strauss in at 6. England have shown the difference a great 8 makes.

Scotland do like to make it difficult, however the stat that Italy had over 2/3rds territory and possession made me smile, how many times in the past did we see that for Scotland when they got beaten? It just shows when we get the opportunities we're now taking them.

Still so much to improve on though. We really need to sort out the restarts (I don't know why the players seem to have a brainfart each time!) and the lapses which keep letting the other teams back in. France hardly look threatening at the moment, but they'll come to murrayfield with a point to prove I'm sure after a pretty shoddy performance in Wales. Laidlaw will need to deliver quick ball, they're a big side and they will likely try to smother us. Same for Ireland. If we cut the errors and keep the composure, I'm going to say Scotland by 5, if we don't, France by 3.

I thought Seymour had quiet game - I barely remember him (nor Visser) touching the ball in the first half. He was solid under the high ball and 'took his try well' but in reality that meant catching the ball and running over the line!

So not as prominent as against Wales, but better than England game - 6.5 is maybe fair!

Hogg is da bomb.

reallybored wrote:Hogg is da bomb.

Is there anyone playing fullback better than Hogg right now?

Visser setup hogg who then popped the pass to Barclay for the try in 1st half. Him and Bennet were a bit off the radar I thought though. It was a pretty tough test match.

The moment yesterday that really made me happy was when Scotland had been stuck in their own 22 for ages and Russell booted a loose ball up field (76m20s) Soon after Scotland stole possession from a loose pass and Strauss took the ball and ran direct. For the slightest of moments it looked as though he may be held up by the Italian defence (as they had done to Gray and many others during the day). However, he pumped his legs and his team mates came to his aid and got the drive going and Scotland retained possession in a great attacking area. After maybe 10 phases of possession at 77m40s Seymour scored! Game over.

Scotland teams of the past would not have done that. They would have been held up, Italy would have got the scrum, maybe pushed Scotland back into their 22 again. Scotland down one man, tired, perhaps Italy score a try/conversion to make it 27-29 going into the final minutes of the game.

So hugely pleasing to see a big impact from the substitutions this week and also the team playing together extremely well in the later stages of the game.

Agree with the consensus on here. The two props, Jonny Gray and Stuart Hogg were my Scotland picks, with a special mention to Laidlaw for an extremely assured performance. Ford, Bennett, Seymour and Visser will have better games.

Good win, although I see us at par for the tournament so far. Need to beat France at Murrayfield.

doctor_grey wrote:

reallybored wrote:Hogg is da bomb.

Is there anyone playing fullback better than Hogg right now?  

Anyone who's Welsh apparently.

Bit concerned that Bennett has been so out of sorts this championship. His two major contributions from yesterday were a silly knock on in the opening exchanges and a missed tackle. He's listed as having made zero meters, which pretty poor when you consider his replacement Horne made 15 in just 18 minutes on the field.

We all know what class he has, but we need him firing on all cylinders to beat Ireland/France.

Tattie Scones RRN wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:

reallybored wrote:Hogg is da bomb.

Is there anyone playing fullback better than Hogg right now?  

Anyone who's Welsh apparently.

Well, that goes without saying. Outside of Wales?????

SRN wrote:Bit concerned that Bennett has been so out of sorts this championship. His two major contributions from yesterday were a silly knock on in the opening exchanges and a missed tackle. He's listed as having made zero meters, which pretty poor when you consider his replacement Horne made 15 in just 18 minutes on the field.

We all know what class he has, but we need him firing on all cylinders to beat Ireland/France.

Perhaps he's not been 100% fit. Perhaps Scott and Taylor would be a better combination for France?

was that the wooden spoon decider . hope not !

heres the highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGYvhbNoprI

alive555 wrote:was that the wooden spoon decider . hope not !

heres the highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGYvhbNoprI

Maybe not... If Italy beat Ireland next (and that could happen), then the Wooden Spoon could be Ireland's at the end..

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

SRN wrote:Bit concerned that Bennett has been so out of sorts this championship. His two major contributions from yesterday were a silly knock on in the opening exchanges and a missed tackle. He's listed as having made zero meters, which pretty poor when you consider his replacement Horne made 15 in just 18 minutes on the field.

We all know what class he has, but we need him firing on all cylinders to beat Ireland/France.

Perhaps he's not been 100% fit. Perhaps Scott and Taylor would be a better combination for France?

Might be the way to go, but of extra bulk wouldn't go amiss against the French.

Well, my tuppence worth.

Scotland didn't play that much better than they have recently. Italy were no worse than in their unlucky defeat to France, or in their much narrower than the score suggests defeat to England.

However, the bits Scotland made marginal improvements in made a big difference to the overall performance.

The front row was simply awesome. I can not remember seeing an international prop with both feet in the air being shunted backwards at a rate of knots at scrum time.

Gray & Gray are improving as the tourney goes on. Jonny 17 tackles none missed.!!!

Back row, Hardie is in the Jonny Gray class, Barcs could easily have been man of the match and Batman had his best game in a Scotland jersey.

The pack kept Italy under pressure and gave Frodo a platform from which to work. He is not the most naturally gifted scrum half in the world BUT he is a leader and he made all the right decisions ( and kept his box kicking to a minimum). He reminds me more and more of the French scrum halves like Galleon: a little general driving his team on.

Can we beat France? Mais oui. bring them on, says I.

p.s. just for GC. Pipetto's team went to Colchester today where they usually get a spanking. They won 39-20, Young Pip scored an unbelievable try from 10 and also gave a delayed pass to put the no6 in under the posts which was a carbon copy of Rhuaridh Jackson last week. The young scamp also sprained his ankle midway through the second half and refused to come off. He must take after his mother.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

SRN wrote:Bit concerned that Bennett has been so out of sorts this championship. His two major contributions from yesterday were a silly knock on in the opening exchanges and a missed tackle. He's listed as having made zero meters, which pretty poor when you consider his replacement Horne made 15 in just 18 minutes on the field.

We all know what class he has, but we need him firing on all cylinders to beat Ireland/France.

Perhaps he's not been 100% fit. Perhaps Scott and Taylor would be a better combination for France?

Not a bad shout, or perhaps Horne/Taylor. Bennett is way off where he was at the World Cup.

Another to consider is Josh Strauss at 8. We really are going to need to muscle up against France, and whilst Wilson was considerably better than expected, he's still not going to make much head way against a massively physical French pack.

It's going to be fasincating to see how the scrummage goes against France.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

SRN wrote:Bit concerned that Bennett has been so out of sorts this championship. His two major contributions from yesterday were a silly knock on in the opening exchanges and a missed tackle. He's listed as having made zero meters, which pretty poor when you consider his replacement Horne made 15 in just 18 minutes on the field.

We all know what class he has, but we need him firing on all cylinders to beat Ireland/France.

Perhaps he's not been 100% fit. Perhaps Scott and Taylor would be a better combination for France?

Not a bad shout, or perhaps Horne/Taylor. Bennett is way off where he was at the World Cup.

Another to consider is Josh Strauss at 8. We really are going to need to muscle up against France, and whilst Wilson was considerably better than expected, he's still not going to make much head way against a massively physical French pack.

It's going to be fasincating to see how the scrummage goes against France.

I'd be tempted to put Horne at inside, Taylor outside and Jackson and Bennett on the bench, Jackson as FH cover, Bennett to swap in for Taylor as an impact sub. Hopefully being demoted to the bench would give him the right kind of motivation. It's always disheartening to see him suffer second season syndrome, but they've all been through it, Hogg especially. Give him a bit of a kick up the arse and it'll come. I think we should swap Jackson on early for Russell too. Again he's blowing hot and cold and needs the pressure on his place, Jackson has had a great comeback and I think we need to give him an opportunity as the playmaker, not fullback. I have no doubt he has a great game in him at FH, playing under Gopperth at Wasps has really fired up his game with the two regularly competing for a starting spot.

France are going to be brutal and direct - I'm not sure Horne is the best choice at 12. Maybe off the bench to run them ragged when the game is broken up, but I think we need to stick with Taylor at 12.

Alternatively Scott at 12 and Taylor 13 - let's not forget that Scott has been on decent form too.

I would not be in any hurry to change the centre combo. They have been defensively sound and will only get better from playing together. They may still turn out to be our best combination given some time. Bennett will come good, I don't think it is a question of fitness or form, you just don't get that many opportunities in international rugby.

You should make minimal if any changes to a winning team, those other players need to earn the chance to get back in and make the most of it when they get their opportunities. Taylor had to sit out the WC and is now taking his chance, he may well have been the first choice now anyway if he had played before.

The thing is that in order to actually beat France we'll need to move the point of attack and keep the ball in play. Picking a XV simply to negate them is risky. I like Taylor at 12 but I think I like him more at 13. Obviously a fully fit and on form Bennett has 13 nailed down, but he's been pretty Di Rollo-esque thus far in the 6 Nations and looks to me like he could use a rest. Taylor is on good form and more naturally plays 13.

Scott vs Horne you can argue either way. Scott is bigger but I'm not necessarily convinced that makes him a better defender. He's a better ball carrier than Horne, but I think Horne edges him as a distributor. Horne is just a little bit cleverer as well I think. Close call, but I'd certainly look to one of them at 12 with Taylor at 13.

Send Bennett back to the Soap Dodgers to assist them in their quest to catch Edinburgh.

funnyExiledScot wrote:The thing is that in order to actually beat France we'll need to move the point of attack and keep the ball in play. Picking a XV simply to negate them is risky. I like Taylor at 12 but I think I like him more at 13. Obviously a fully fit and on form Bennett has 13 nailed down, but he's been pretty Di Rollo-esque thus far in the 6 Nations and looks to me like he could use a rest. Taylor is on good form and more naturally plays 13.

Scott vs Horne you can argue either way. Scott is bigger but I'm not necessarily convinced that makes him a better defender. He's a better ball carrier than Horne, but I think Horne edges him as a distributor. Horne is just a little bit cleverer as well I think. Close call, but I'd certainly look to one of them at 12 with Taylor at 13.

Send Bennett back to the Soap Dodgers to assist them in their quest to catch Edinburgh.

^ Agree with most of this. People always pick up on Horne's size as a negative point, but in my opinion it forces him to be more creative. Scott is a bit more of a blunt option and doesn't have the same turn of pace since he hit the 'roids.

Taylor is a fairly solid lump at outside centre so defensively I certainly don't think Horne would be an issue, and Finn doesn't exactly shy away from tackles. I do think we should have Bennett on the bench though.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

Shifty wrote:Italy will be too good for Scotland.  I'll say 18-13  to Italy.  

an insightful, well balanced and meticulously researched comment. Bravo sir!

happy to see shifty was wrong...

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

Shifty wrote:Italy will be too good for Scotland.  I'll say 18-13  to Italy.  

an insightful, well balanced and meticulously researched comment. Bravo sir!

happy to see shifty was wrong...

Yes, hard to believe that having conducted such an exhaustive analysis he came up with the wrong outcome. Still, at least he said it with conviction. If this rugby prediction business doesn't work out for him he can seek the Republican nomination for President of the USA instead.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

Shifty wrote:Italy will be too good for Scotland.  I'll say 18-13  to Italy.  

an insightful, well balanced and meticulously researched comment. Bravo sir!

happy to see shifty was wrong...

Yes, hard to believe that having conducted such an exhaustive analysis he came up with the wrong outcome. Still, at least he said it with conviction. If this rugby prediction business doesn't work out for him he can seek the Republican nomination for President of the USA instead.

I dunno the US public have standards, very very low standards, but standards none the less. They have to draw the line somewhere.