Matt Fagerson: Rome defeat adds motivation to Scotland’s Six Nations opener

Matt Fagerson admitted bitter memories of Rome last March would provide Scotland with additional motivation for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations opener at home to Italy.

The Scots’ hopes of a rare top-two finish in the championship were dashed when they suffered a shock 31-29 defeat to the Azzurri in the Stadio Olimpico on matchday four after losing their way in the second half.

Gregor Townsend’s side are determined to banish that disappointment and get their latest campaign off to a flier when the ever-improving Italians arrive at Murrayfield this weekend.

“You can’t dwell on the past too much and it’s not something that ties in to our emotion that much, but, obviously, it’s in the back of our minds,” said back-rower Fagerson, who came on as a substitute amid his team’s second-half meltdown in the Eternal City.

“Losing out there is something that we were obviously very disappointed with. It derailed our tournament a bit last year.

“I think we sort of deviated from the plan a little bit in the middle third, leading into the end of the game.

“Credit to Italy, they did really well at home last year so hopefully, we’re going to turn it around and do the same at the weekend. The performance is what we’re striving for and that’s been focused and dialled in throughout the whole week.

“We know the challenges ahead of us, but we definitely want to right what happened last year.”

Scotland have not lost their opening match of a Six Nations campaign since 2020 and Fagerson says his team are laser-focused on continuing that trend this weekend.

“It’s a massive test,” he said. “I think the first game, you’ve got to start well and that’s the first focus.

“I think something we’ve taken from the last two or three years is to not look too far ahead and not look at the Six Nations results as a whole.

“Taking it week to week is one of the big focuses for us.

“We’re not looking past the first game. We know the challenge that Italy are going to bring and putting our best physical performance on the pitch to start the Six Nations well.”

Scotland’s hopes of challenging for the title have generally been plagued by inconsistency and Fagerson acknowledged one of the big challenges of the championship was to be in prime physical and mental condition as a team for each of the five match weekends.

“I think the first game is obviously usually the easiest (to get up for),” said Fagerson.

“As the tournament goes on, I think that (mental fatigue) is a struggle that a lot of teams have. Ireland did it well last year in terms of the momentum carrying them through.

“But as you get to week five and game five, the body’s sore, you’re a bit mentally drained and I think the best teams are the ones that can stay focused, keep the small habits up and go week to week – and that’s something that we’re going to try and do this year.”