Six Nations 2026: Gregor Townsend still believes in Scotland project

With heavy rain falling all the time, mistakes in handling the ball were characteristic of both teams, but Italy’s superiority in the early stages and its superiority in free kicks was the difference.

Scotland hooker Ioan Ashman had a difficult time in the line-up, with Scotland losing five of their throws.

New-look Glasgow wingers Jamie Dobbie and Kyle Steyn – and makeshift full-back Tom Jordan – have left Italy wanting.

Too much space was left for Lewis Lynagh’s opener before the Benetton winger beat Dobe in the air moments before Tommaso Minoncello blasted into the other corner.

“Obviously the players are very disappointed,” Townsend added. “The effort was there. A lot of what we practiced was spot on. We gave up a lot of possessions.”

“We couldn’t score more points in the first half. It was very difficult in the second half but the effort the players put in was huge and it wasn’t enough to win the game.

“We shouldn’t have let them go ahead. They had two separate tries. We had chances that we didn’t take and then things got difficult after that.”

Despite the almost impossible conditions, BBC experts unanimously agreed that Italy had dealt with them better.

“Both teams were playing in the same conditions,” former Scotland captain John Barkley said.

“In the decisive moments of the match, Italy was on the right side of those moments.”

Former England captain Martin Johnson agreed, saying: “Italy’s start gave them the win.”

He added, “The match was almost unplayable, and it was very wet. If you make complex errors like Scotland did, you will get into trouble.”