That was followed by Scotland convincingly defeating Italy with a 31-19 scoreline thanks to heroics from Huw Jones. It was the same old story for England, as they gave up a half-time lead to succumb to a narrow 27-22 loss to Ireland.

Scotland's centre Huw Jones scored a hat-trick of tries as they got their Six Nations campaign off to a winning start with a 31-19 bonus-point victory over Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday after holding off a fierce attempted fight-back by the visitors.

Moments of brilliance by a backline shorn of its best player have spared Scotland from a second straight humbling by Italy in Six Nations rugby.

Scotland will be out for revenge on Saturday as they take on Italy at Murrayfield in their opening fixture of the 2025 Six Nations. Last year's encounter between these two sides saw the Italians secure their first Six Nations home win in 11 years,

Huw Jones savoured a hard-fought Six Nations triumph over Italy but warned that Scotland will need to raise their game if they are to get the better of Ireland.