Six Nations: Five takeaways from Italy v Scotland as Ali Price shines and Ange Capuozzo emerges

Following a 33-22 victory for Scotland over Italy in their Six Nations fixture, here’s our five takeaways from the match at the Stadio Olimpico.

The injury to regular scrum-half Stephen Varney that ruled him out of this game didn’t have a negative effect on Italy this weekend, far from it. Callum Braley was outstanding in the opening half as he led the Azzurri charge in a 40 minutes that they dominated in many facets. It was fitting he got the reward of the try and it was therefore a surprise to see him replaced on 51 minutes. On the other side Ali Price celebrated his 50th international cap in style as he was a buzzing presence in Scotland‘s fruitful counters that got them motoring. His try assist for Stuart Hogg’s score was outstanding and he’ll be thrilled to mark his 50th with this showing. He was later voted Player of the Match and rightly so.

As mentioned, the first half saw Italy have plenty of ball but it was Scotland who went in with their noses in front at 19-10. That was because of the visiting side’s lethal offence and countering ruthlessness from deep areas. Three tries were put on the board before the break and in one of their first attacks of the second period, Darcy Graham finished superbly after good angles and patience from his team-mates. That aforementioned Hogg try, created by Price also came out of very little and after struggling so much with their ball against France in Round Three, Scotland will be pleased to have found their mojo in possession again and will look to build on that in their final tournament game.

In an age when referees are often criticised, it’s always worth finding time to praise officials on good days. Pearce’s name reaching #12 on Twitter’s trending page, following yet another