Italy v Scotland: Stuart Hogg backed by Gregor Townsend after his brilliant try for Exeter

Stuart Hogg during Scotland training at the Oriam. Picture: Paul Devlin / SNS

For mavericks it comes with the territory, and the Scotland boss backed his new skipper Stuart Hogg to the hilt yesterday after a tumultuous few weeks for the star full-back.

The 27-year-old has suffered the slings and arrows after a couple of high-profile blunders in the opening Six Nations losses; away to Ireland when he dropped the ball in the act of scoring a potentially match-levelling try, and against England at home with a defensive lapse which led to a five-metre scrum from which the visitors scored their decisive try.

These unfortunate incidents aside, Hogg has been on great form and he was clearly making a point of it last Friday when, playing for Exeter Chiefs against Gloucester, he made sure he firmly planted the ball down beneath the posts for a scintillating score.

“I was watching that game, just hoping he would make it through the 80 minutes,” said Townsend of his skipper’s return to the fray in more miserable winter conditions.

“When I saw the weather forecast I thought ‘he is going to have two games in the space of six days in the worst weather he is likely to face during his career’, but he was  excellent.

“To go back on the Monday to train, and then play six days after back-to-back Test matches, I thought he was outstanding, and to get the try will just give him huge confidence going into this weekend.”

Scotland face a pivotal Six Nations match against Italy in Rome on Saturday and Townsend added: “He [Hogg] has trained very well, he’s  full of energy like he  normally is.

“Sometimes playing in the week between Six Nations Test matches is a risk in terms of where you are physically, but it can give you confidence and a real boost going into the next game if you come through it playing well.

“He’s thriving in the role. I’ve seen captains who are maybe unsure about when to speak, some captains will think a lot about the role rather than focusing on themselves and letting it come naturally, but Stuart is one of those who speaks naturally, and it is not affecting the way he is playing or training.

“He’s working really well with a small leadership group we have now. The group are coming together on the training field more than I’ve seen it before.”

That leadership has been shorn of Finn Russell, for well-documented reasons, and lock Jonny Gray who is now out of the tournament with his hand injury.

Stuart McInally returns to the starting XV this weekend, though, and Townsend believes the Edinburgh hooker can put the disappointment of his Japan woes behind him. McInally was named World Cup skipper but ended up being dropped from the starting side for the last pool game against Japan.

He now replaces Fraser Brown for the Rome trip.

“Stuart had a rib injury going into the first game [in Dublin] so he hadn’t played for a few weeks,” said Townsend. “That was one reason he didn’t start, the other reason was that  Fraser had been playing really well.

“There isn’t much between those two hookers and we have a third, George Turner, who is also playing well.

“If you are playing hooker you are going to get 20 minutes off the bench even if you’re not selected. We think it’s right for Stuart to play in this game, he’s played a lot for us over the past few years.

“He’s played at a consistently high level and in his two games off the bench I felt he showed real energy. Both of our hookers will have a big role to play this weekend.

“[Replacing Brown] has nothing to do with what happened in the England game, the line-out was down to the weather. Any hooker would have struggled in those  conditions.”

Italy, who have lost 24 Six Nations games on the bounce since their win in Edinburgh five years ago, will name their team today, with all eyes on whether legendary No 8  Sergio Parisse is to be involved.

After being denied a World Cup swansong against the All Blacks by Typhoon Hagibis, the 36-year-old, who has 142 caps, will get a send-off at some point in this  championship.

“I’m not sure if he’s going to be in the squad, we’ll find out,” said Townsend. “But if he’s playing we’ll certainly talk about him and what he can bring.

“I believe he’s going to be involved in one of the home games, either against us or the English game. He’s an excellent player and this is going to be his last Six Nations.

“Italy obviously see us as an opportunity. They should have beaten us two years ago [when Greig Laidlaw’s last-gasp penalty snatched a 29-27 win for the Scots in Rome]. It’s their first home game as well, so they’ve been to two tough venues in Cardiff and Paris, and played well in the second game against France, and they’ll get a boost from knowing that they have 60-70,000 supporters behind them.

“So, we’ll see them really come at us.”