Six Nations Championship 2026: Gregor Townsend on the ropes as Scotland coach after run into the swamp

For Townsend’s team, in many games, there is uncertainty as to when the damage will be done – the beginning or the end – but there is a near certainty that at some point it will actually happen. It’s the rhythm of life in the Townsend era.

And in Rome, that was at the beginning. There was talk from within the Scotland camp that they needed to do better going into the opposition No. 22. And there were good reasons for that chat.

In last season’s Six Nations Championship, they finished second out of six in terms of visits to 22 opponents and sixth out of six in terms of points gained from those visits. Extravagance, as well as mental fragility, was hard work, as they say.

Just a few minutes into the game, Scotland had Italy on the attack in the 22nd minute. It’s time for action, not words. Clinical rugby, remember. Lessons learned. progress.

Their ball was stolen from the front and Italy escaped. It was the beginning of an absolute disaster for Ewan Ashman, in particular, and his successor, George Turner.

Conditions? Yes, terrible, but Scotland made more errors across the board than Italy.

Sometimes, when shots were stolen or fired from behind the scenes with no jumper or seemingly any contact, it was an unholy mess.

You wouldn’t expect Scotland to be beaten this early, but you have to understand the motivations of this team and the omens were not encouraging.

Especially within a few minutes because Italy scored. They won in the air, as they often did, and showed the kind of accuracy that Scotland only speaks of. Ignacio Brix is ​​upset by Lewis Lynagh and Italy had dealt the first blow.

Becoming harder to score against was one of the non-negotiables mentioned by the Scottish boys. In smoke already.

Scotland had another attacking line inside Italy’s 22 soon after. Stolen again. Twelve minutes had played, and now, truly, you were hearing the music of Jaws ringing in the ears.

For a while, the circumstances seemed to affect only one team. Italy were in the air again, Lynagh beat Jamie Dube to the scoresheet and the scoreline began.

Michele Lamarro, the totem of the back row, crossed a pass to Tommaso Minoncello and the five-point lead became 12. Dozens of points in this weather are worth much more.

Chasing in the rain makes you panic, makes you force things, and eats away what’s left of your beliefs.

To Scotland’s credit – and there are not many chances – they scored through Jack Dempsey and again later through George Horne.

The boots of Paolo Garbisi and the strong will of his team kept the Scots at bay.

This is the error that visitors constantly make. It was a fierce battle and the Italian dogs were even more dangerous.