Hogg helps Scotland to victory
By Mark Stevens
22/2/20
Scotland defeated Italy 17-0 to record their first win of this year’s Guinness Six Nations Championship and go third in the standings after a scrappy affair at the Stadio Olimpico.
A sensational solo try from Exeter Chiefs full-back Stuart Hogg lit up the first half, the Scotland captain atoning for earlier errors in this season’s competition with a dazzling run from inside his own half before finishing in the corner.
The fixture was a meeting between the two sides yet to win a game in the tournament this year and nerves were clear to see as the error count mounted. However, Scotland pulled clear in the second half when Chris Harris punctured the Italian defence to touch down, before Adam Hastings raced under the posts to put the result beyond doubt with one minute remaining.
"We're delighted with that," said Hogg. "We came here to do a job and we've done exactly that. I'm so proud of the boys."
Scotland, who earned losing bonus points in their opening two matches, move ahead of Wales and England into third place on six points, while Italy remain bottom without a point.
Hogg’s superb try was the highlight of a disjointed first half, as the full-back collected the ball just inside his own half, burst between two defenders and beat his opposite number Jayden Hayward for pace to touch down in the corner.
"Thankfully it just opens up for me but there's a lot of method in the madness to get us into that position," Hogg said.
The try marked a moment of redemption for Exeter Chiefs player, after he dropped the ball over the line in the opening-day defeat by Ireland.
"I've had a lot of chat over the last couple of weeks about that and I wasn't making a mess of that one," he added.
The victory helped to relieve pressure on Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend, who has come under fire in recent weeks over his side’s form, as well as the handling of his situation with fly-half Finn Russell, who was sent home in week one of the tournament for breaching team protocol.
"I'd like to think we'd go into our last two games with any pressure that might have been on our shoulders lifted," said Townsend. "Maybe we didn't play as fluently, partly because of the way Italy were playing, but also maybe because we knew how important a game and result was for us to now kick on in the championship."
In a scrappy match with 17 turnovers, Scotland kept Italy scoreless, having only conceded one try against both Ireland and England.
Townsend paid credit to defence coach Steve Tandy, who replaced Matt Taylor shortly before the tournament, and believes the win can provide a platform for the final two matches of the tournament.
They host France at Murrayfield in two weeks' time before finishing against Wales in Cardiff.
"The performance wasn't perfect by any means, but the defence was almost perfect when you have a zero against you," he added. "When you take the best bits of attack from this game and the Ireland game and put that together we can be a real threat for France, and Wales the following week."
Hogg's superb individual effort opened the scoring in Rome, providing the perfect response to costly errors by the Scotland captain in the last two matches.
"It was world class," Townsend said of the try. "He almost had another with a few similar line breaks in the second half. He's been full of positive energy and shown good leadership through a tough time losing games and there are other distractions."