'The most Scottish thing we could do this year... a horrible mentality'

Former Scotland captain Andy Nicol has said that there is no evidence to suggest Scotland can look beyond Italy in round one of the Guinness Six Nations amid talk of them being in title contention.

Scotland have a favourable fixture run this Six Nations, with tournament favourites England and France both visiting Edinburgh. With Glasgow Warriors also at the top of the United Rugby Championship table and unbeaten in the Investec Champions Cup, there are plenty of reasons for Scotland to be confident heading into this Championship.

However, Nicol says there has been an “absence of any consistency” from Gregor Townsend’s side, which is why they cannot look beyond the clash with Italy in round one in Rome despite winning 14 of their last 15 encounters.

Upon returning from Rome, Scotland will turn their attention to the Calcutta Cup in round two, and a victory would provide them arguably their best ever shot of winning their first Six Nations title.

Joining The Rugby Pod ahead of the Six Nations, the former scrum-half said that it would be “the most Scottish thing” to beat Italy and England, and then lose to Wales in round three, which he regretfully added is a “horrible mentality”.

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Italy

18 - 15

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He said: “With all the backstory and everything that’s happened to Scotland, they can’t look past anything other than that first game in Italy. The fixtures do look good, but without winning in Italy, nothing happens. We can’t say, “We’ve got England at home in the second game, Wales away, we could be three from three before we welcome France to Murrayfield, where we’ve beaten them before, and then go to Ireland to win a Grand Slam.” The Andy Nicol from years ago might have said that.

“I’m not saying it, no chance. Because the evidence isn’t there — it’s just not. Talent-wise, do I think Scotland can beat Italy in Rome? Yes. Do I think Scotland can then beat England at Murrayfield? Absolutely. But the most Scottish thing we could do this year is beat Italy, beat England, then go down to Wales and lose the third game. That’s a horrible mentality to have, but in the absence of any consistency, you just can’t say Scotland can look beyond the first game.”