Six Nations, Italy retake Scotland and triumph at the Olympic Stadium
Six Nations, Italy reassembles Scotland and triumphs at the Olympic Stadium
Gonzalo Quesada’s Italy writes one of the most beautiful pages in the history of Italian rugby by overcoming a tough Scotland 31 to 29 at the end of a rough, physical match played at a high pace for all 80 minutes in front of an Olympic Stadium never so full of people and real passion. After the first half closed down 16 to 22, with the Scots effective in the breakdown and in the one-on-one, in the second half the Azzurri returned to the field highly motivated, more performant in the winning phase and in defensive readings, coming to build a +9 that in the final at the heartbeat guaranteed the victory keeping at a distance the return of the HIghlanders.
By Brex, Lynagh and Varney were the Italian heavy scorers, while Garbisi signed an eloquent 5 on 6 from the pitch, a splendid response to the’incredible epilogue of the game against France in Lille.
The Tables Of The Match:
Rome, Stadio Olimpico
GUINNESS SIX NATIONS
Saturday, March 9, 2024 | kick-off 3:15 pm
ITALY v SCOTLAND 31-29 (p.t. 16-22)
Scorers: PT 1’ c.p. Garbisi (3-0); 6’ m. Fagerson, t. Russell (3-7); 11’ m. Steyn, t. Russell (3-14); 14’ m. Brex, t. Garbisi (10-14); 24’ Russell (10-17); 28’ m. Schoeman, n.t. (10-22); 34’ c.p. Garbisi (13-22); 39’ c.p. Page-Relo (16-22). ST 44’ m. Lynagh, n.t. (21-22); 58’ m. Varney, t. Garbisi (28-22); 73’ c.p. Garbisi (31-22); 79’ m. Skinner, t. Russell (31-29)
Italy: 15 Ange Capuozzo, 14 Louis Lynagh (70’ Federico Mori), 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello (79’ Leonardo Marin), 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo (50’ Stephen Varney), 8 Ross Vintcent, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri (58’ Lorenzo Cannone), 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone (72’ Andrea Zambonin), 3 Simone Ferrari (50’ Giosuè Zilocchi), 2 Giacomo Nicotera (50’ Gianmarco Lucchesi), 1 Danilo Fischetti (58’ Mirco Spagnolo)
Available: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Giosuè Zilocchi, 19 Andrea Zambonin, 20 Lorenzo Cannone, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Leonardo Marin, 23 Federico Mori
Head Coach: Gonzalo Quesada
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 George Horne (58’ Ali Price), 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge (70’ Jamie Ritchie) (cc), 6 Andy Christie ((58’ Matt Fagerson), 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Grant Gilchrist (69’ Sam Skinner), 3 Zander Fagerson (69’ Millar-Mills), 2 George Turner (58’ Ewan Ashman), 1 Pierre Schoeman (58’ Alec Hepburn)
Available: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Elliot Millar-Mills, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Jamie Ritchie, 21 Matt Fagerson, 22 Ali Price, 23 Kyle Rowe
Head Coach: Gregor Townsend
Referee: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistants: Karl Dickson and Adam Leal (RFU)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
