Scotland vs Italy as it happened: Vern Cotter ends with a bonus point win
Follow minute by minute how Scotland ended their Six Nations run
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Your support makes all the difference.Scotland are looking to recover from last week’s humiliating 61-21 defeat by England when they take on Six Nations basement side Italy, who are already destined to receive the Wooden Spoon. Follow the latest from the first game of Grand Slam Saturday here.
- Scotland vs Italy kicks off at 12:30
- Scotland aiming for third win in the Six Nations
- Italy yet to pick up a point and will finish bottom no matter what the result
- Teams:
- Scotland: S Hogg; T Seymour, H Jones, A Dunbar, T Visser; F Russell, A Price; G Reid, R Ford, Z Fagerson, R Gray, J Gray, J Barclay, H Watson, R Wilson.
- Replacements: F Brown, A Dell, S Berghan, T Swinson, C du Preez, H Pyrgos, D Weir, M Scott.
- Italy: E Padovani; A Esposito, T Benvenuti, L McLean, G Venditti; C Canna, E Gori; A Lovotti, O Gega, L Cittadini, M Fuser, G Biagi, M Mbanda, A Steyn, S Parisse.
- Replacements: L Ghiraldini, S Panico, D Chistolini, D van Schalkwyk, F Ruzza, F Minto, M Violi, L Sperandio.
Follow the live action below...
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Preview...
What time does it start?
Scotland vs Italy kicks off at 12:30 at BT Murrayfield.
Where can I watch it?
The match will be shown live on BBC One from 12:10. You can also follow the match live The Independent’s live blog here.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's opening Six Nations match on grand Slam Saturday, with Scotland hosting Wooden Spoon-elect Italy in the first of three enticing games.
Scotland are locked in a four-way battle for second place along with Ireland, Wales and France, but Italy are destined to finish bottom of the pile as they remain pointless in this year's Six Nations.
Following the match at BT Murrayfield, we'll head to Paris for the crunch clash between France and Wales that could go a long way to deciding who finishes runner-up, and also who ends the tournament in the crucial fourth place in the world rankings, given today's matches are the last time the rankings can be changed before the 2019 Rugby World Cup draw in May.
Finally, we'll bring you all the action from Dublin where England go for a second consecutive Grand Slam when they take on Ireland. With the championship already in the bag, England are hoping to complete a second whitewash under Eddie Jones as well as set a new world record with a 19th Test victory in a row. The bar has already been set high, too, after England Women and the Under-20s sealed Grand Slams in the Irish capital on Friday night,
Follow all the action here throughout the day.
First up today we have Scotland, seeking redemption after their capitulation at Twickenham last week. A victory from the exciting Scots would have kept them in contention for the title last week but sin bins, injuries and terrible defence put an end to that.
It is also Vern Cotter's first last game as Scotland coach before Gregor Townsend takes over the side and you can bet they will be desperate to give him a win for his years of service.
Win today and Scotland will finish the Six Nations with three victories for the first time since 2006. A bonus point win would almost guarantee them second behind England too.
Remarkably, all of Scotland's back line have recovered from last week's bruising encounter at Twickenham and they will be running at every opportunity at a wet Murrayfield.
2 mins: A great first scrum by Scotland there and their strong push as won them the first penalty of the game. It's quite far out and to the right of the posts so Stuart Hogg is taking over responsibilities from Finn Russell... and what a sweet strike! Right through the posts! Scotland 3 Italy 0
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