The Six Nations' winless outfits do battle in Rome this Saturday to avoid the ignominy of slipping towards another wooden spoon.
Duncan Weir's drop goal settled the last meeting between Italy and Scotland the last time they faced off in the Italian capital – a moment of great drama made for the coliseum as Scotland snatched a 21-20 win – yet bizarrely that moment stands as Scotland's most recent win in the Six Nations.
Now 736 days later Vern Cotter's troops will return to Rome wanting to put a surprisingly poor record to rest.
Talk of Scotland punishing England with their ambitious attack proved short-lived, before a result in Cardiff looked well within grasp until Wales and Warrenball, the onslaught of powerful runners to get over the gain line, shifted up a couple of gears.
Scotland's record in Rome is poor, with just the two wins in the last decade, but Cotter will feel that he has enough quality from 1-15 to cause Italy problems across all areas of the game.
What of Italy though, so tenacious in Paris in the opening game when nobody gave the a prayer. Over-ambition was their downfall against England in Round 2 when their heads instantly dropped following Jonathan Joseph's interception try.
Jacques Brunel is looking to go out with a bang to round off a reign that will be looked back on as a whimper.
Exposing younger players such as David Odiete, who returns from injury, and Carlo Canna, missing on Saturday, should at least give the next Italy boss – all eyes on Conor O'Shea – something to work with.
Italy need the optimism from that opening day loss back and to have forgotten the bruising scoreline they ultimately ended up on the wrong side of against England. We've seen the potential, but that's worth nothing without a scalp.
Wins away to Wales and Ireland look unlikely, so now is the Azzurri's time to strike.
Duncan Weir's drop goal settled the last meeting between Italy and Scotland the last time they faced off in the Italian capital – a moment of great drama made for the coliseum as Scotland snatched a 21-20 win – yet bizarrely that moment stands as Scotland's most recent win in the Six Nations.
Now 736 days later Vern Cotter's troops will return to Rome wanting to put a surprisingly poor record to rest.
Talk of Scotland punishing England with their ambitious attack proved short-lived, before a result in Cardiff looked well within grasp until Wales and Warrenball, the onslaught of powerful runners to get over the gain line, shifted up a couple of gears.
Scotland's record in Rome is poor, with just the two wins in the last decade, but Cotter will feel that he has enough quality from 1-15 to cause Italy problems across all areas of the game.
What of Italy though, so tenacious in Paris in the opening game when nobody gave the a prayer. Over-ambition was their downfall against England in Round 2 when their heads instantly dropped following Jonathan Joseph's interception try.
Jacques Brunel is looking to go out with a bang to round off a reign that will be looked back on as a whimper.
Exposing younger players such as David Odiete, who returns from injury, and Carlo Canna, missing on Saturday, should at least give the next Italy boss – all eyes on Conor O'Shea – something to work with.
Italy need the optimism from that opening day loss back and to have forgotten the bruising scoreline they ultimately ended up on the wrong side of against England. We've seen the potential, but that's worth nothing without a scalp.
Wins away to Wales and Ireland look unlikely, so now is the Azzurri's time to strike.
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