Scotland and Italy are set to face off in what promises to be a fascinating clash in the 2025 Guinness Men\u2019s Six Nations.<\/p>\n
Both teams enter this contest with plenty to prove, making this encounter pivotal in the context of the Championship.<\/p>\n
Head-to-head<\/strong> If the scales are tipped in Scotland\u2019s favour on the historical front, it\u2019s worth recalling that Italy ruined Scotland\u2019s party in 2024. The Scots, high off the back of victories against Wales and England (and a narrow loss to France) had every right to think they could win in Rome.<\/p>\n Things didn\u2019t work out that way. Italy, themselves buoyed by a draw with France that should arguably have been a victory for Quesada\u2019s team, edged Scotland by a two-point margin before going on to beat Wales.<\/p>\n Never before have Italy gone back-to-back with wins against the Scots, while the hosts\u2019 best run is a 13-match winning streak from 2015 to 2023.<\/p>\n This will be the third time Scotland has faced Italy in Round 1, after 2000 (lost 20-34) and 2019 (won 33-20).<\/p>\n Form Guide<\/strong> Never miss a moment: Sync your calendar with Six Nations Rugby fixtures Meanwhile, Italy has made significant strides under Gonzalo Quesada, evident in the 2024 Guinness Men\u2019s Six Nations, with historic victories over Scotland, Wales, and a draw against France.<\/p>\n Italy are unbeaten in their last three matches in the Guinness Men\u2019s Six Nations (W2 D1), winning the last two in a row. That\u2019s the Azzurri\u2019s longest unbeaten streak in the Championship, while they have the opportunity to win three consecutive matches for the first time in their Six Nations history.<\/p>\n Team News<\/strong> Masibaka will replace Josh Bayliss in the squad, who sustained a groin injury playing for Bath in their victory over Sale Sharks. He will remain with Bath for further assessment to determine exact timescales.<\/p>\n Alexander Masibaka has been impressive this season in Pro D2 with the French side Soyaux-Angoul\u00eame. The 23-year-old is currently on loan from Montpellier having previously played for the Western Force. Born and raised in Western Australia, he plays across the back-row and qualifies for Scotland through his Paisley-born mother.<\/p>\n Stats dive<\/strong> Team-by-team guide Italy will be cautious over the formidable Duhan van der Merwe as he was the joint-top try scorer in the 2024 Guinness Men\u2019s Six Nations (5, joint with Dan Sheehan) and finished 2024 as the outright top try scorer for any men\u2019s Tier 1 nation (9) in addition to ranking first for defenders beaten (48).<\/p>\n 2024 Guinness Men\u2019s Six Nations Player of the Championship Tommaso Menoncello made the most dominant tackles of any player from a men\u2019s Tier 1 nation in 2024 (21) and won at least four more turnovers than any such back last year (10).<\/p>\n Previous results<\/strong> The teams<\/strong> Italy<\/strong>: 15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Martin Page-Relo, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Michele Lamaro (c), 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti Date<\/strong>: Saturday, February 1 Scotland and Italy are set to face off in what promises to be a fascinating clash in the 2025 Guinness Men\u2019s Six Nations. Both teams enter this contest with plenty to prove, making this encounter pivotal in the context of the Championship. Head-to-head In 37 encounters between the two teams, Scotland have prevailed 28 times,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41421,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4827,4932,4828,4823],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-italy","category-latest-news","category-scotland","category-six-nations"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0S2A0412.webp?fit=1440%2C914&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9yf19-aM4","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":33687,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/six-nations\/2018\/03\/2018-six-nations-preview-italy-vs-scotland-17-3-18\/","url_meta":{"origin":41420,"position":0},"title":"2018 SIX NATIONS Preview: Italy vs Scotland {17-3-18}","author":"rr_admin","date":"March 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Follow @RedefinedRugby Italy will be looking for their first win of Six Nations 2018 when they welcome Scotland to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Super Saturday. Scotland\u2019s last defeat in Rome came back in 2012. In the six seasons since then, Scotland have only lost one of their nine\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Italy"","block_context":{"text":"Italy","link":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/category\/italy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/18origin__0x0_Scotland_Italy.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/18origin__0x0_Scotland_Italy.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/18origin__0x0_Scotland_Italy.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/18origin__0x0_Scotland_Italy.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36060,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/international-rugby\/2019\/02\/preview-scotland-v-italy-02-02-19\/","url_meta":{"origin":41420,"position":1},"title":"Preview: Scotland v Italy {02\/02\/19}","author":"rr_admin","date":"February 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Six Nations \"LIVE\" [powered by TRIBE] Click here for LIVE play-by-play commentary. Scotland will hope to hit the ground running when they get their 2019 Six Nations campaign underway against Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday. That will be easier said than done as Italy will also be determined to make\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Rugby"","block_context":{"text":"International Rugby","link":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/category\/international-rugby\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Greig_Laidlaw_and_Sergio_Parisse_SN_launch_2019.jpg.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Greig_Laidlaw_and_Sergio_Parisse_SN_launch_2019.jpg.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Greig_Laidlaw_and_Sergio_Parisse_SN_launch_2019.jpg.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/Greig_Laidlaw_and_Sergio_Parisse_SN_launch_2019.jpg.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41447,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/six-nations\/2025\/02\/match-preview-scotland-v-ireland\/","url_meta":{"origin":41420,"position":2},"title":"MATCH PREVIEW: Scotland v Ireland","author":"rr_admin","date":"February 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"As the 2025 Guinness Men's Six Nations progresses, anticipation builds for the upcoming clash between Scotland and Ireland in Edinburgh on Sunday 9th February. Head-to-head There have been 142 fixtures between the two sides with the first dating back to 1877. Ireland have won on 71 occasions while Scotland have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ireland"","block_context":{"text":"Ireland","link":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/category\/ireland\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/BST_0819.webp?fit=1200%2C777&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/BST_0819.webp?fit=1200%2C777&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/BST_0819.webp?fit=1200%2C777&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/BST_0819.webp?fit=1200%2C777&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/BST_0819.webp?fit=1200%2C777&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39592,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/six-nations\/2021\/02\/2021-guinness-six-nations-weekend-1-previews-and-teams-selection-reports\/","url_meta":{"origin":41420,"position":3},"title":"2021 Guinness Six Nations Weekend 1 Previews and Teams Selection Reports","author":"rr_admin","date":"February 5, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"2021 Guinness Six Nations Weekend 1 Previews and Teams Selection Reports Ahead of the first weekend of matches, we are pleased to share you the first set of statistics for the 2021 Guinness Six Nations Championship. Match Previews and Team Selection Notes \u00a0 \u00a0 Italy v France Date: Saturday, February\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Latest News"","block_context":{"text":"Latest News","link":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/category\/latest-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rd121.jpg?fit=1200%2C850&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rd121.jpg?fit=1200%2C850&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rd121.jpg?fit=1200%2C850&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rd121.jpg?fit=1200%2C850&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/rd121.jpg?fit=1200%2C850&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":41125,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/six-nations\/2024\/03\/preview-italy-v-scotland\/","url_meta":{"origin":41420,"position":4},"title":"PREVIEW: ITALY V SCOTLAND","author":"rr_admin","date":"March 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"PREVIEW: ITALY V SCOTLAND Scotland know only maximum points will do to keep the pressure on Ireland at the top of the Guinness Men\u2019s Six Nations table when they visit Rome on Saturday. Gregor Townsend\u2019s side need to care of business and beat Italy, ideally with a bonus point, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Italy"","block_context":{"text":"Italy","link":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/category\/italy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6nations23-1.png?fit=635%2C558&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6nations23-1.png?fit=635%2C558&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/6nations23-1.png?fit=635%2C558&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39851,"url":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/six-nations\/2021\/03\/report-superb-scotland-run-in-eight-tries-to-beat-italy-in-edinburgh\/","url_meta":{"origin":41420,"position":5},"title":"REPORT: Superb Scotland run in eight tries to beat Italy in Edinburgh","author":"rr_admin","date":"March 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Dave Cherry and Duhan van der Merwe bagged braces as Scotland returned to winning ways with a record 52-10 bonus-point victory over Italy at BT Murrayfield. The Azzurri stunned the hosts when skipper Luca Bigi crossed for an early try after seven minutes but Scotland replied with two quickfire scores\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Italy"","block_context":{"text":"Italy","link":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/category\/italy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/inpho_01790896-1450x816-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/inpho_01790896-1450x816-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/inpho_01790896-1450x816-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/inpho_01790896-1450x816-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/inpho_01790896-1450x816-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41422,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41420\/revisions\/41422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rugbyredefined.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIn 37 encounters between the two teams, Scotland have prevailed 28 times, with Italy winning nine (including their maiden Six Nations victory a quarter of a century ago).<\/p>\n
\nScotland will enter the match buoyed by their recent performances under head coach Gregor Townsend. Their autumn campaign featured impressive wins against Australia, Portugal and Fiji, with Finn Russell and Darcy Graham spearheading their attacking play.<\/p>\n
\nThe Scots have built a reputation for fast-paced rugby and robust defensive structures, making them a tough side to break down.<\/p>\n
\nEuan Ferrie, Cameron Henderson, Ewan Johnson, Alexander Masibaka and Ollie Smith have all joined up with the squad.<\/p>\n
\nScotland has won their opening match of the Guinness Men\u2019s Six Nations in six of the last eight editions of the tournament, including the last four in a row, whereas Italy have won their opening game of the Guinness Men\u2019s Six Nations in just three of their 25 campaigns, losing their last 11 in a row since beating France 23-18 in Round 1 in 2013; however, each of the Azzurri\u2019s last two such defeats have come by five points or fewer (24-29 v France in 2023, 24-27 v England in 2024).<\/p>\n
\nScotland had the best goal-kicking success rate (96%) in the 2024 Guinness Men\u2019s Six Nations, scoring 55 out of a possible 57 points from the boot, with talisman Finn Russell as their only kicker, however, the average goal kicker would have been expected to score just 48 points from the same attempts, their overperformance of seven points was the best of any side.<\/p>\n
\n2024: Italy won 31-29 in Rome
\n2023: Scotland won 25-13 at Murrayfield
\n2023: Scotland won 26-14 at Murrayfield
\n2022: Scotland won 33-22 in Rome
\n2021: Scotland won 52-10 at Murrayfield
\n2020: Scotland won 28-17 in Florence
\n2020: Scotland won 17-0 in Rome
\n2019: Scotland won 33-20 at Murrayfield<\/p>\n
\nScotland<\/strong>: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Stafford McDowall, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (cc), 9 Ben White, 8 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge (cc), 6 Jamie Ritchie, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Dave Cherry, 1 Pierre Schoeman
\nReplacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Gregor Brown, 20 Jack Dempsey, 21 George Horne, 22 Tom Jordan, 23 Kyle Rowe<\/p>\n
\nReplacements: 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Luca Rizzoli, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Niccolo Cannone, 20 Manuel Zuliani, 21 Ross Vintcent, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Simone Gesi<\/p>\n
\nVenue<\/strong>: Murrayfield
\nKick-off:<\/strong> 14:15 GMT
\nReferee:<\/strong> Karl Dickson (RFU)
\nAssistant Referees:<\/strong> Luke Pearce (RFU), Damian Schneider (UAR)
\nTMO:<\/strong> Marius Jonker (SARU)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"