Scotland quartet set for first Test start

Scotland have it all to do again when the two teams meet in the return fixture next Saturday at BT Murrayfield.

But substitute scrum-half Pyrgos went over against the run of play and Weir added the conversion. For Scotland the defence was sound – the porousness evident in the second half in Dublin last week was replaced with granite – but there was little of the attacking ambition shown, at least until the introduction of Pyrgos and the centre Peter Horne.

Granted, these were weakened lineups, but this was also the fourth game in a row decided by a nail-biting margin, with the last three prior to Saturday’s meeting won by three points or fewer.

Alasdair Strokosch took over the captaincy after Grant Gilchrist was ruled out with a stomach bug and expressed his delight after he led his side to a win which spoke volumes about the spirit in the squad. This was their first win against a Tri-Nations or Six Nations side since they beat Italy in the spring of past year.

“John has played 50-odd games for the Highlanders and was very close to national selection in New Zealand”, Cotter said. Those early signs of Italian rust had gone and some neat interplay behind the scrum belied the absence Sergio Parisse, for so long their standard bearer, through illness.

Instead, it was Allan who nudged Italy in front for the first time with another penalty.

At least Scotland’s defence was rapidly improving; Mike Cusack made one particularly resounding thud and Gordon Reid forced an impressive turnover before Weir doubled the advantage with another penalty on 13 minutes. Italy seemed content to hang on to what they had, but with Scott and Horne doing damage down the middle and debutant wing Damien Hoyland hungrily looking for work, Scotland looked like the side most likely to take something from this encounter.

This was their first calendar victory of 2015 and should be welcomed for the hard-fought success it was, but Vern Cotter knows that in terms of World Cup fine-tuning, there’s still plenty of fiddling under the bonnet to be done.

But the Azzurri picked-up from where they left off after the interval, and talismanic flanker Martin Castrogiovanni came within an inch of scoring as he was held up by more desperate defending.

Scotland play the Italians twice in as many weeks ahead of the start of the World Cup and with Cotter set to name his final 31-man squad by the end of August, the New Zealander is keen to see all of his current players in action over next fortnight.