Italy vs Scotland Six Nations Betting Tips
Scotland are in Rome for their Six Nations opener on Saturday and boss Gregor Townsend has made some hard calls in selecting his starting XV in the Italian capital.
This is the 27th iteration of the tournament with six competing nations and, in that time, Scotland and Italy have often been the whipping boys.
Scotland were 'best of the rest' in 2025 as France pipped England to the title and Ireland finished third. With a World Cup to come in 2027, the Scots will want to make strides.
Their Autumn Series brought much frustration as they fumbled a big opportunity to down New Zealand then grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory against Argentina.
Italy meanwhile took a major scalp from the southern hemisphere with their November Series win against Australia and will be aiming to cause more havoc.
Italy vs Scotland Betting Tips
Townsend faces a new dawn
Scotland -8.5 points @ 17/20
Gregor Townsend has made some big calls as Scotland face into the Six Nations after a testing end to 2025.
His side was roundly criticised for failing to beat New Zealand in Edinburgh when the All Blacks appeared there for the taking and worse followed as they let slip a 21-0 lead against the Pumas at Murrayfield in a 33-24 reverse.
Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham - the top two try-scorers in Scotland history - as well as British and Irish Lions Test full-back Blair Kinghorn are missing from the starting XV now.
Instead, Bristol's Tom Jordan at full-back will be flanked by Glasgow Warriors wingers Kyle Steyn and Jamie Dobie in the back three.
There is a strong Glasgow presence throughout the Scotland 23, with four of the backline and five of the pack coming from the Scotstoun-based outfit, little wonder given their impressive season so far.
It will have sent shockwaves in some directions but the form of Steyn and Dobie dictates they deserve their places. Kinghorn's displacement at No.15 may only be a short-term move but it signals that no player in the Scotland set-up is immovable.
The Azzurri beat Scotland 31-29 in 2024 but each of the three previous meetings on Italian soil – including a 2020 Autumn international – ended with Scotland at least 11 points to the good and they can make a fast start now.
Expect the scoreboard to tick over
Over 44.5 match points @ 13/20
This should be an entertaining showdown. Italy's Ange Capuozzo is out with a finger injury, while in-form Northampton wing Edoardo Todardo is also ruled out, two blows to boss Gonzalo Quesada, but the Azzurri will still be feeling they are in a decent spot.
They need a big opening performance that could send them to Dublin on Valentine's weekend with a legitimate chance of a first win against Ireland on their own patch.
These sides have met 11 times in Test matches since 2017 and the outlier was a 17-0 win in the Six Nations for Scotland in Rome in 2020.
Every other meeting in that time has gone over 37 points, with eight of the other 10 rising to at least 45 points scored.
Outside of their disappointments against New Zealand and Argentina in the autumn, the Scots thrashed the USA and Tonga, scoring 141 points across two games.
Italy beat the Wallabies in Udine 26-19 and scored two tries against the Springboks before a 34-19 win against Chile in Genoa.
Both teams have attacking talents that should punch holes and keep the scoreboard ticking over.
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to change