Jones hat-trick gives Scotland nervy win over Italy

Men’s Six Nations

Scotland (19) 31

Tries: Darge, Jones 3, White Cons: Russell 3

Italy (9) 19

In their grueling Six Nations opener against Italy at Murrayfield, Scotland started strong with a Huw Jones hat-trick.

Gregor Townsend’s team had raced into an early 14-0 lead when Rory Darge and Jones scored in the opening 10 minutes.

Scrum-half Ben White, from a gorgeous offload from hooker Dave Cherry, added a third before the end of a half that ended 19-9.

What appeared to be a fairly comfortable day for the Scots suddenly turned into anxiety as Italy continued to win the match thanks to Tommaso Allan’s boot.

Allan made it 19-12 early in the second half and, when Juan-Ignacio Brex intercepted Finn Russell for a converted try, it was level.

Before the centre beat three Italians to finish his hat-trick just after the hour, Scotland sped away from there, inspired by Darcy Graham’s incredible break from deep to set up Jones for his second.

Early in the day, Scotland had roared out of the blocks. From the moment they arrived, they were fierce from the beginning, and they were sharp in a flat, menace-playing backline.

Murrayfield was able to regain its momentum in just two minutes, Cherry scoring from a close range penalty and the brilliant Darge passing Tommaso Menoncello in the end. Russell added the conversion.

It was as polished as you like when Jamie Ritchie drew his pass from Russell out the back. Jones and Blair Kinghorn sped away with each other. Menoncello’s fingertips helped Kinghorn find his center, making it unavoidable.

Russell again banged over the extras.

When Allan overturned two penalties to cut the Scottish lead to eight, Allan’s momentum was slightly slowed, but the resultant emphatic reaction was that was.

Scotland’s top five kept their efforts to create great areas, none more so than cherry, a surprise winner.

When Allan’s unerring boot lashed over another penalty and another early in the second half, making it just a seven-point game, the score soon increased to 19-9.

Allan’s boot kept Italy in the game and their confidence started to soar as a consequence. When Scotland jumped out in front and was eventually pegged back slowly but surely, the game started to resemble Rome.

When Russell was unsure of whether to kick or pass, he threw a weak pass in Jones’ direction that Brex intercepted.

The centre ran away to the posts. The game was level after Allen converted. History repeating?

It was a scrap now, a disjointed, nervy slugfest, but when you have a little genius like Graham in your ranks then you always have hope. The try that put Scotland back in the lead, and gave them a bonus point, was startling.

From a scrum on the edge of their own 22, they went right, eventually to Graham, who cut back inside, evading two defenders, put on the turbo boost to skip away from another and then found Jones who scampered away.

Boy, Scotland was in need of something at the time. They had gotten stale and prone to errors before the wee man made a spectacular return to Murrayfield. A natural attempt to calm the nerves in the home.

Russell made it a 26-19 with the conversion. Five minutes later, Scotland scored again thanks to Graham’s incredible work.

This time, it was Jones at his outstanding best. He managed to pass three Italians close to the visitors’ line, and he succeeded in doing so. The center gets a triple, and the Scots get a lot of free breathing space.

It was a difficult opening game but we did manage to win because we had to defend our line on two or three occasions in that second half.

“There was a physical challenge today. Today’s mental challenge was the most crucial factor. to work together on the field to find solutions and a winning strategy, which will be crucial for the upcoming games.

Huw Jones, the Scotland player of the match, said: “It’s not every day you get to the end of three. I’m grateful to the boys for setting me up.

” It was a big turning point]Jones ‘ second try], there wasn’t really anything on for him but Darcy]Graham] will find a gap when there isn’t one. I simply had to try to keep up with him.

Replacements: Ashman, Sutherland, Hurd, Brown, Dempsey, G Horne, Jordan, Rowe

Italy: Allan, Capuozzo, Brex, Menoncello, Ioane, P Garbisi, Page-Relo, Fischetti, Nicotera, Ferrari, Lamb, Ruzza, Negri, Lamaro (capt), L Cannone