Italy inadvertently throw England a Six Nations hospital pass

Gregor Brown believes a Calcutta Cup showdown with England is the perfect way for Scotland to try to banish their Italy frustration.

The Scots made a dire start to their Guinness Six Nations campaign as they went down 18-15 to the Azzurri in Rome on Saturday.

The defeat all but ended their hopes of contending for the championship and piled renewed pressure on embattled head coach Gregor Townsend, who vowed to soldier on afterwards.

Versatile Glasgow forward Brown, who came on as a second-half substitute, offered his apologies to the travelling support and he hopes they can go some way to making amends for a result that “really hurt” by bouncing back with a victory over the Auld Enemy at Murrayfield this Saturday.

“I think after a result like that and the frustration, England at Murrayfield is the perfect occasion to try and bounce back,” said the 24-year-old. “This next game is the biggest of the championship for us.

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“A home game at Murrayfield is one of the best things as a Scottish player. To have that occasion off the back of a loss is something we need to get excited about. We’ll review Italy and really attack the week.”

Scotland have now lost their last seven matches against sides ranked in the top 10 – Italy, Argentina, New Zealand, Fiji, France, Ireland and England.

Brown, who won his 13th cap on Saturday, admitted the run of poor results has become increasingly exasperating as he does not believe it is an accurate reflection of their collective ability.

“It’s tough,” he said. “We don’t want to be a team that just talks about improvements and not getting the results.

“We play an exciting brand of rugby and I think that’s what makes it even more frustrating when we don’t get the results.

“There is still so much confidence. We really believe in what we’re doing and the players we’ve got, but we’re sick of talking about it as much as the fans are sick of hearing us talk about it.”