Scotland's hopes of lifting the championship trophy for the first time in the Six Nations era are slim but still alive, and they need a bonus-point victory over Italy at Stadio Olimpico today in order to stand a chance of forcing a title decider against Ireland next weekend.
A maximum return would pull the Scots within a point of leaders Ireland, who host Gregor Townsend's men in a week's time. That said, Ireland would sew up the 2024 Six Nations title with a four-try victory over England in Saturday's late game.
Scotland's clash with Italy is a meeting of the anti-France alliance, with both teams stinging from being robbed of victory over Les Bleus by dubious refereeing calls. Scotland would have a perfect record if their game-winning try hadn't been controversially ruled out in Round 2, while Paolo Garbisi should have been allowed to retake his last-gasp penalty that pinged off the upright in Round 3, as he was being charged down illegally.
The Azzurri got a draw at least, which brought to an end their seven-game losing streak in the Six Nations – though a win would have lifted them off the bottom of the pile. But with Duhan van der Merwe and Finn Russell in town, there's no time to dwell on what-ifs.
HOW TO WATCH A FREE ITALY VS SCOTLAND LIVE STREAM ON ITVX
| UK stream: ITVX (FREE) |
| US stream: Peacock TV |
| AUS stream: Stan Sport |
What time is kickoff?
The Italy vs Scotland kickoff is at 2.15pm GMT / 9.15am ET / 6.15am PT today, Saturday, March 9. In Australia, that's 1.15am AEDT on Sunday, March 10.
Italy vs Scotland team news and venue
Italy team: Capuozzo, Lynagh, Brex, Menoncello, Ioane, Garbisi, Page-Relo, Vintcent, Lamaro (c), Negri, Ruzza, Cannone, Ferrari, Nicotera, Fischetti. Replacements: Lucchesi, Mirco, Zilocchi, Zambonin, Cannone, Varney, Marin, Mori.
Scotland team: Kinghorn, Steyn, Jones, Redpath, Van der Merwe, Russell (co-c), Horne; Schoeman, Turner, Z Fagerson, Gilchrist, Cummings, Christie, Darge (co-c), Dempsey. Replacements: Ashman, Hepburn, Millar-Mills, Skinner, Ritchie, M Fagerson, Price, Rowe.
Today's game will be played at the 73,261-seater Stadio Olimpico in the Foro Italico sports complex in Rome. The stadium was once called Stadio dei Centomila, when it had the capacity to hold 100,000 fans.
