Six Nations: Scotland target third place in what could be Gregor Townsend’s final fling in the championship

Gregor Townsend takes charge of Scotland for the 30th, and possibly final, time in the Six Nations on Saturday, seeking a home victory over Italy that would likely secure a third place finish, equalling their previous best in the championship since its expansion in 2000.

With his contract due to expire at the end of the year and no clarity about his future beyond this autumn’s World Cup, the coach could be bringing the curtain down on his involvement in rugby’s oldest international tournament, from a Scottish perspective at least. This is his sixth tilt at the Six Nations and while his teams have never quite managed to maintain a genuine title challenge, his record outstrips those of his predecessors in the professional era. In 29 matches with Townsend at the helm, they have won 14, lost 14 and drawn one, so the outcome of this weekend’s game will decide if he emerges on the credit side. The same could be said of the current Scotland squad who won their first two games this season, against England and Wales, but saw their hopes of a championship charge ended by losses to France and Ireland. While there is no disgrace in losing to the world’s two best teams, a home match against Italy is a different matter and the result on Saturday will essentially define whether this has been a good or bad campaign for Scotland.

They have beaten Italy seven times under Townsend but Jamie Ritchie rates the current Azzurri squad as their best ever and both coach and captain are in agreement that they deserve more than the paltry point they have taken so far this season. “They'll be frustrated that they've played a lot of really good rugby and run a couple of good teams close but not converted that into results,” said Ritchie. “They come here with nothing to lose. They’re always a passionate team but there might be a little bit more passion because they enjoy playing against us, they target this game. We know there will be a challenge coming against potentially the best Italy team we’ve ever played, so we need to be ready.”

Scotland may have historically been seen as the team to target by Italy, but last season’s stunning win over Wales in Cardiff shifted a lot of their focus on this year’s home game against the Welsh. The feeling in the Scottish camp is that Kieran Crowley’s team let the emotion of the occasion get the better of them, compromising their composure at the crucial moments. Italy made 11 line breaks against Wales — the most by anyone in any Six Nations match this year — but converted only two into tries. Meanwhile, Wales made four line breaks and finished three. The failure to take their chances was Italy’s downfall in losing 29-17.

Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie during the team run at BT Murrayfield. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Captaining in the Six Nations this season for the first time, Ritchie comes across a phlegmatic character and knows cool heads will be required amid the noise and fury on the pitch. He has stressed the importance of a good start and keeping control, citing last week’s second half against Ireland as an example of not doing the latter. “There were points in the game when we went away from things we had been doing really well,” he said. “It is about us being true to ourselves and trusting what we are trying to do. If we can starve them of oxygen and energy by playing how we want to play, put them under pressure then we can hopefully get on top. This is the best Italy team we will come up against. For us it is making sure we do it for 80 minutes.”

Italy are missing their star man, Ange Capuozzo, but the home team are without Finn Russell, Stuart Hogg and Richie Gray, three totemic figures in Scottish rugby for more than a decade. Ritchie believes their replacements can provide a fresh impetus. “Although the changes have been enforced, that little bit of new blood and new energy into the group is just what we needed in that short week,” said the captain. With Russell out, Blair Kinghorn has been handed the opportunity at stand-off, Ollie Smith comes in for Hogg at full-back and Gray’s second row berth is taken by Sam Skinner. Kinghorn’s return to 10 has commanded much attention, partly because he hasn’t started a match at stand-off this year. Ritchie, his club-mate at Edinburgh, seemed surprised at this but is confident Kinghorn can slot back into the playmaker’s role after four outings as a back-three placement. “I see Blair work every week, every day and I know he has been chomping at the bit to get a starting role for the whole tournament, not just this game,” said Ritchie. “Every game he has come on he has made an impact so I am excited to see him get going from the start.”

Before the tournament, Ritchie was asked what success for Scotland would look like. He answered by saying he was after “five strong performances”. Ahead of their final match, the team find themselves with an opportunity to finish third for only the fifth time since Italy joined. A victory would also make it three wins from five for the fourth time in Townsend’s six campaigns. Given Ireland and France’s current status as the first and second ranked teams in the world, it would be a noteworthy achievement and one that is certainly within this squad’s capabilities as they look to peak in autumn at the World Cup in France. “I outlined our goal of five good performances and I think we're at three and a half just now,” said Ritchie, with the second half against Ireland being the one below-par 40 minutes. “To get it up to four and a half would be good so we're looking for a strong performance. To secure that third place outright would be a positive.”

Scotland: 15. Ollie Smith; 14. Kyle Steyn, 13. Huw Jones, 12. Sione Tuipulotu, 11. Duhan van der Merwe; 10. Blair Kinghorn, 9. Ben White; 1. Pierre Schoeman, 2. George Turner, 3. Zander Fagerson, 4. Sam Skinner, 5. Jonny Gray, 6. Jamie Ritchie, 7. Hamish Watson, 8. Jack Dempsey.

Blair Kinghorn will start at stand-off for Scotland against Italy. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Replacements: 16. Ewan Ashman, 17. Rory Sutherland, 18. WP Nel, 19. Scott Cummings, 20. Matt Fagerson, 21. Ali Price, 22. Ben Healy, 23. Cameron Redpath.

Italy: 15. Tommaso Allan; 14. Pierre Bruno, 13. Juan Ignacio Brex, 12. Tommaso Menoncello, 11. Simone Gesi; 10. Paolo Garbisi, 9. Alessandro Fusco; 1. Danilo Fischetti, 2. Giacomo Nicotera, 3. Marco Riccioni, 4. Edoardo Iachizzi, 5. Federico Ruzza, 6. Sebastian Negri, 7, Michele Lamaro, 8. Lorenzo Cannone.

Replacements: 16. Marco Manfredi, 17. Federico Zani, 18. Pietro Ceccarelli, 19. Niccolo Cannone, 20. Giovanni Pettinelli, 21. Manuel Zuliani, 22. Alessandro Garbisi, 23. Luca Morisi.

Referee: Angus Gardner (Aus).