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Hogg turns around his miserable championship and inspires Scotland to win in Rome

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Stuart Hogg helped relieved some of the pressure on coach Gregor Townsend as his stunning solo try sent Scotland on their way to their first win of the Guinness Six Nations campaign.

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The new skipper has had a championship to forget so far after costly mistakes in the defeats to Ireland and England. But he went some way to atoning for those blunders as his 20th Test touch down opened the scoring in a 17-0 win in Rome.

The Dark Blues were again guilty of failing to take their chances but Chris Harris and Adam Hastings also got on the scoresheet at the Stadio Olimpico to give Townsend some respite after a bruising tournament overshadowed by the Finn Russell row.

That bust-up with Scotland’s star man, combined with last year’s early World Cup exit and six games without a win in the Six Nations, had placed the head coach under increasing scrutiny but his team will now welcome France to Murrayfield in a fortnight with confidence renewed after a deserved victory.

Scotland had failed to register a try in either of their two opening defeats despite having more than enough chances. And the travelling Tartan Army in the Eternal City must have feared their side were set for a fresh bout of white-line fever as another chance went begging eight minutes in.

(Continue reading below…)

How Jim Hamilton and Darren Cave previewed Scotland’s trip to Italy

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A monster 60-yard kick from Hogg forced a line-out deep into the Azzurri’s 22 but while the hosts were caught out by Stuart McInally’s long throw for Sam Johnson, they were back in position to hold up Hogg before a knock-on from Magnus Bradbury saw the Scots come frustrated yet again.

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The Dark Blues’ scrum was working well and a big shunt should have been rewarded with an easy three points. Adam Hastings, however, shanked a simple kick almost in front of the sticks.

It was a sloppy start from Townsend’s team and it almost became a disastrous one as another poor swipe of Hastings’ boot released Mattia Bellini. The Zebre wing danced past three tackles before storming up field, with Jayden Hayward only prevented from scoring by Hogg’s last-ditch tackle.

But it was Scotland who at last found a breakthrough in the 23rd minute. Blair Kinghorn put Matteo Minozzi under pressure with a well-placed kick and he could only respond by firing straight at Jamie Ritchie in centre-field. The flanker handed off to Hogg and the skipper did the rest, rampaging through a gap in the hosts’ line before striding away from Hayden to score a sensational try.

It was a moment of redemption for the relieved captain as he was pounced upon by his jubilant team-mates after hitting back at those who have suggested the armband might be too heavy for him.

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Hastings missed the conversion but Scotland thought they had a second try on the half-hour mark as Ali Price scampered in under the hosts but the celebrations were cut short when the TMO alerted referee Ben O’Keeffe to Hamish Watson’s forward pass in the build-up.

Tommaso Allan then fired a late penalty against the post as Italy wasted a chance before Scotland’s 5-0 lead before the break. But Scotland were still being wasteful, with Price and Ritchie again letting the ball slip through their fingers with the line in sight either side of the turnaround.

They did not lose heart though and got their reward in the 47th minute. There were times during 17 phases of sheer grunt on the Italian line where Italy’s resistance looked like it might pay off but in the end there was just enough space for Harris to squeeze through wide on the right for the second. Again Hastings failed to convert.

Italy had to play out the final stages a man light after Federico Zani was binned for a tip-tackle on Grant Gilchrist. And with their legs tiring they could do nothing as Hastings pick-pocketed a ruck before cantering in under the posts to put the seal on a much-needed win for Scotland and their coach.

– Press Association 

WATCH: RugbyPass Rugby Explorer takes a trek through Italian rugby, visiting Rome and Treviso  

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J
JW 1 hour ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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