Scotland will take on Italy in the opening game of Round 5 of the 2021 Guinness Six Nations.
Image Copyright – Steve Haag Sports
Scotland will be looking to move up the 6 Nations ladder when they take on an Italy side that is rooted to the foot of the standings and set to endure another winless campaign.
While the hosts cannot win the tournament, they will be looking for a solid finish and a big win leading into their catch-up fixture against the French would certainly go a long way to achieving this goal,
Scotland v Italy
Saturday 20 March
Murrayfield
16:15
To Win (80 Mins)
Scotland 1/100
Draw 40/1
Italy 18/1
Handicap
Scotland 9/10 (29.5)
Italy 9/10 (+29.5)
Scotland
The ‘Scots saw their 6 Nations championship dreams go up in smokes last weekend as a late Johnny Sexton penalty saw them go down 24-27 to the Irish at Murrayfield. The result has left them fifth on the log with six points to their names. And while they do have a game in hand, they are unable to overhaul current table-toppers Wales, who currently sit on 19 points.
While last week was a rather disappointing result, the ‘Scots will still be rather pleased with their campaign so far as they won the Calcutta Cup with a 16-11 win over the English and went down by just a solitary point to Wales.
In terms of team news, we may well see some changes to the Scottish side as they look to give a few fringe players a run. The biggest of these changes could see the fit-again Adam Hastings get a go as the starting fly-half ahead of talisman Finn Russell.
Italy
It’s been another 6 Nations campaign full of misery for the Azzurri who have lost all of their fixtures thus far. While the Italians have given a decent account of themselves on the attack, they have been woefully poor on defense and head into Saturday’s match with a points differential of -142.
There was also no respite for Franco Smith’s men last week as they were beaten 7-48 by title front-runners, Wales.
Last year’s clash between the sides was a rather dell affair with the ‘Scots only able to run up a 17-0 scorleine against their lowly opponents. It could well be a lot bigger this time around.
Verdict: Scotland 9/10 (-29.5)
I’m expecting a rather open game this Saturday with both teams likely to have a go with ball in hand. I reckon Scotland will run away with it in the second stanza, however.
