EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - MARCH 17: Ollie Smith during a Scotland team run at BT Murrayfield, on March 17, 2023, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

What they said 

Head Coach Gregor Townsend said: “We are very determined.

Our goal is to play our best rugby of the Guinness Six Nations. Italy will test us. They’re playing outstanding attacking rugby and they’ve got a defence that fills the field really well and will ask questions and they play with passion.

We’ve got to make sure they don’t do that (win) this time.”

Ollie Smith, starting full-back, said: “It’s not going to be an easy game, we are going to have to work for our points and have to earn it.

There’s nothing to lose, we want to cement that third position in the table, so hopefully we can come out here get 5 points and give the fans what they want, and give them a good day.”

The teams

Stats

• Scotland have won each of their last seven Guinness Six Nations matches against Italy, their longest winning run against any nation in the Championship.
• Scotland have the highest tackle success rate of any side in this year’s Guinness Six Nations (91%), while 82% of their missed tackles have seen the opposition player subsequentially tackled before breaking the line or scoring a try, the highest such rate of any side in the Championship this year.
• Scotland’s Matt Fagerson has made the most tackles of any player in this year’s Guinness Six Nations (70), while teammates Jonny Gray (37), Jack Dempsey (32) and Luke Crosbie (32) are the only players to have made 30+ tackles without missing one in the Championship this year.
• Scotland’s Huw Jones is the top try scorer in this year’s Guinness Six Nations (4).