Kinghorn reigns for Scotland with hat-trick as Healy makes 6N debut

Blair Kinghorn rose to the challenge of replacing Finn Russell at stand-off as he scored a hat-trick of tries to help Scotland end their Guinness Six Nations campaign with a bonus-point 26-14 victory over spirited Italy.

It was also a good day for former Ireland under-20 back Ben Healy who was a second-half replacement for the hosts.

Versatile Edinburgh back Kinghorn went over the line either side of half-time to add to an earlier touchdown by Duhan Van Der Merwe. And he then completed the scoring in the last moment of a hard-fought game as the Scots fended off an Azzurri fightback to ensure they ended the championship with three wins out of five for the first time since 2018.

Italy had a chance to get the scoreboard ticking when they awarded a penalty on the 10-metre line in the fourth minute but Tommaso Allan – who was born in Scotland – saw his kick drift just left of the posts.

Four minutes later, however, Allan got the Azzurri off the mark when he kicked a penalty from the 22.

The Scots sparked into life in the 13th minute when Van Der Merwe received an offload from Huw Jones wide on the left and did superbly to ride the challenge of Paolo Garbisi and plant the ball down just inside the touchline. Kinghorn was wide with his conversion attempt.

Sublime finish from Duhan van der Merwe for Scotland. Touch of the James Lowes to that one