Scotland player ratings vs Italy - 2021 Six Nations
Scotland player ratings: Scotland responded from back-to-back defeats with a comfortable bonus point win over Italy, condemning the visitors to a 32nd consecutive Six Nations defeat in the process.
There were eight tries from Gregor Townsend’s side – two each for hooker Dave Cherry and his Edinburgh team-mate Duhan van der Merwe – as they recorded a record win over an Italian side who looked out of their depth at times.
Here’s how the Scotland players performed as they recorded their second win of the campaign.
SCOTLAND PLAYER RATINGS:
15. SEAN MAITLAND – 7
Some lovely touches in attack and not tested defensively before he headed off. A rare outing at fullback but one he can be pleased with.
14. DARCY GRAHAM – 8
A constant threat with ball in hand and always looking for work. Hammered by Monty Ioane in the first half but recovered well and offers himself close to the ruck.
13. HUW JONES – 9
Against a very limited Italian defence, a constant threat. More than 150m made with ball in hand shows just how dangerous he can be when he’s at his best, and a second try in as many weeks to go alongside.
12. SAM JOHNSON – 8
Provided valuable go-forward and provides a sharp link between the half-backs and Scotland’s danger men. Showed excellent power to shrug off Bigi and score his fourth international try.
11. DUHAN VAN DER MERWE – 9
A couple of tries, including excellent support of Price’s 60m break to score late on and take Scotland to a half century. Twelve defenders beaten – some of them with ease – and more than 200m made show how dangerous the Worcester-bound wing is.
10. STUART HOGG – 8
Drove Scotland’s attack on his first international start at stand-off. Goalkicking the only slight issue and will have been disappointed not to get a try of his own.
9. SCOTT STEELE – 8
Brought his club form to the international arena on his first Scotland start. Brought speed of service that allowed Scotland to attack seemingly at will, and took his try well.
1. RORY SUTHERLAND – 7
Has cemented himself as Scotland’s first choice on the loosehead and helped to get Scotland on the front foot in the first half.
2. DAVID CHERRY – 8
The Edinburgh hooker couldn’t have dreamed of a better first Test start. Two tries and a hugely improved lineout, plus six carries. Should be the starter next Friday in Paris on the evidence of this performance.
3. ZANDER FAGERSON – 7
Back from suspension and a good 50 minutes before he was removed. Undoubtedly Scotland’s first choice tightead and a powerful scrum performance.
4. SAM SKINNER – 8
Led the defensive effort well with eight tackles made on his first start since August 2019. Has been in good club form and showed Gregor Townsend what he can do on the international stage.
5. GRANT GILCHRIST – 7
A big improvement in the lineout and the former captain was at the forefront of that. Also offers himself as a link between forwards and backs regularly, while chipped in with six tackles and eight carries.
6. JAMIE RITCHIE – 8
A couple of silly penalties blotted his copybook but Ritchie lives on the edge at the breakdown, while he does a lot of Scotland’s dirty work.
7. HAMISH WATSON – 9
Another huge shift from the all-action back-row in a Man of the Match display. In his 65 minutes, the Edinburgh man made 21 carries for more than 100 metres.
8. MATT FAGERSON – 8
The campaign started with doubts over whether he was the answer for Scotland at number eight and he’s answered them throughout. Fourteen carries, largely in heavy traffic, for the workhorse Glasgow number eight.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments