Stuart Hogg is fast becoming the long-range try specialist in the RBS 6 Nations as he followed up his solo effort against England in round one with an even more spectacular try in the 34-10 win over Italy .
The Glasgow Warriors full back wrote his name into Murrayfield folklore as he scored one of the greatest interception tries ever seen at the home of Scottish rugby. One minute it looked as though the Italians were going to score, the next Hogg was beating three defenders and racing more than 80 metres to score at the other end.
It was a special moment for the crowd and the player and was the pick of the four tries scored by the home side as they won for the first time on home soil since August, 2011. It was also the first time they had scored four tries in an RBS 6 nations match since they beat Italy in 2003.
It was just the boost Scottish rugby needed after the defeat against England at Twickenham, and just the reaction Italian skipper Sergio Parisse didn’t want after his side’s opening day win over the French. The visitors were as bad in Edinburgh as they had been superb in Rome a week earlier.
Man of the match Greig Laidlaw gave Scotland an early lead with two penalties before Tim Visser stepped over for his fifth Test try in seven games. Laidlaw’s conversion made it 13-0 and the only points from the Italians in the first half came from a single penalty by Luciano Orquera.
Three more tries flowed from the Scots in the second half as they went into overdrive. Centre Matt Scott, Hogg and Sean Lamont raced over and Laidlaw took his match tally to 14 poitns with three more conversions.
Scotland interim head coach, Scott Johnson, said: “I’m really happy with the performance today, but we want to win the Championship, and while there are improvements a lot was left out on the pitch. Today’s result puts us right in this tournament.”
Scotland captain, Kelly Brown, said: “We said last week after England that they won the match with one on ones, but today we really fought and grafted as a side and that paid off.”
