Scottish Rugby

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Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend tells BBC Sport: "I think a lot of the forwards provided a platform at times, they worked really hard.

"We had to defend our line on two or three occasions in that second half so it was a tough opening game but we managed to get the win.

"I was more frustrated with the minutes and the opportunities before the score was level we weren't taking. If you're knocking on the door, and you continue to knock on the door, those moments will come.

"Credit to the players to get the win and that bonus point which might be important in the end.

"There were a lot of positives aspects today. Huw [Jones] is a very, very good defender. Today he supported very well and it's great that he got those tries.

"There was a physical challenge today. The most important element today was the mental challenge. To come together as a team on the field to find solutions and find a way to win which will be important in the next games."

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Scotland hat-trick hero and player of the match Huw Jones tells BBC Sport: "I'm pretty happy.

"It's not every day you manage to get on the end of three so thanks 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 just had to try and keep up with him.

"I don't want to say that our confidence is sky high, we're happy with the win today but our focus is on taking it week by week."

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Glasgow Warriors fell to a fourth-consecutive Celtic Challenge defeat as they were outclassed by defending champions Wolfhounds at Scotstoun.

Warriors raced into an early lead through Briar McNamara's try in their first home game this campaign but were 33 points behind just after the second-half restart after dominant Wolfhounds showed their quality.

Ceitidh Ainsworth and Emily Coubrough scored second-half tries as Warriors fought to claw back some of the deficit.

The result leaves the hosts second bottom of the competition table, level on points with bottom side Brython Thunder.

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Scotland's wretched run in the Under-20s Six Nations continued with 22-10 loss to Italy in Edinburgh.

With just one victory in the tournament since 2021, the Scots struck first at The Hive, with Billy Allen scoring from a maul.

However, the visitors were able to feed on errors and Federico Zanandrea profited from an interception to make sure Italy led 7-5 at the interval.

Italy scrum-half Niccolo Beni stretched that lead following an impressive surge from Jules Ducros.

Eduardo Todaro then sliced through two tackles to plunge under the posts.

Seb Stephen was held up on the line as Scotland applied some late pressure and fellow replacement Ollie Duncan crashed through soon after, selling a neat dummy pass on his way through from close range.

Any hopes of a home rally were extinguished when the conversion was missed and Italy knocked over a penalty in the closing moments.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Italy back-row Sebastian Negri believes Scotland will be out to avenge their loss to the Azzurri in Rome last year when they begin their Six Nations campaign at Murrayfield on Saturday.

A 31-29 loss at the Stadio Olimpico ended Scotland's title hopes in the 2024 tournament and Negri believes that will fuel Gregor Townsend's side.

"We know Scotland will be hurting from that," Negri said.

"We know they've talked about putting things right and a bit of revenge, so we've got to expect that."

As well as beating the Scots, Italy drew with France and beat Wales in last season's championship and there is a feeling that after years of consistently being the weakest side in the tournament, Gonzalo Quesada's team are now ready to compete.

"I feel like we're in a really good cycle at the moment," Negri added.

"Obviously, we've been through ups and downs as a team. But I feel like this is a really good Italian team to be a part of. We can't shy away from that.

"And it's a different challenge for us now. With the cycle and where we are as a team, we've got to put in some performances and get some results. That's an exciting thing to be a part of.

"We're under no illusions. We know it's going to be a tough game. I looked at their team yesterday. I just see a really quality team there. Full of depth.

"You say that maybe Italy are probably in one of their better cycles, that we're a really good team. I look at Scotland and I can say exactly the same."