Scotland fight back to beat Italy in Rugby World Cup warm-up game

Scotland battled back from 6-5 down to overcome Italy 25-13 in their Rugby World Cup warm-up fixture at Murrayfield on Saturday.

A try in each half from wing Darcy Graham proved decisive in the end result while replacement back-row Josh Bayliss added a third late in the game.

Former Munster and Ireland age-grade star Ben Healy chipped in with 10 points off the tee in an assured performance in his first Test start at fly-half.

Italy’s only try scorer on the day was Monty Ioane, with Tommaso Allan kicking the conversion and two penalty goals as the Azzurri suffered a defeat.

Graham was one of the few established starters in Gregor Townsend’s XV as he allowed several of his key players the weekend off ahead of the upcoming double-header against World Cup hosts France.

Glasgow centre Stafford McDowall was given his international debut while Glasgow prop Murphy Walker and Edinburgh fly-half Healy – both previously capped – made their first starts.

It looked like it might be a difficult afternoon for the Scots when the visitors instantly got themselves on the front foot and had their hosts penned inside their own half for the opening five minutes.

However, the hosts burst into life after six minutes when Healy, working off a turnover, kicked a ball into space for Graham to chase down but the rapid Edinburgh wing was thwarted by some impressive defending just as he looked set to get himself clear.

The same two players combined as the hosts made the breakthrough in the 13th minute.  Healy again kicked wide to the right, picking out Graham who was already beyond the try-line as he received the ball before helping himself to a straightforward touchdown.  Healy was unable to add the extras as his conversion attempt went wide.

However, the Azzurri managed to get themselves in front by half-time courtesy of a couple of penalties from Allan, the Harlequins fly-half who has a Scottish father as well as an uncle capped nine times by Scotland in the early 1990s.

Allan reduced the deficit with a close-range effort in the 26th minute and then in the last action of a largely underwhelming first half the number 10 sent another kick soaring between the posts from inside Scotland’s 10-metre line.

Scotland got themselves back in front eight minutes after the interval when Healy pinged over a penalty.  And in the 55th minute, Graham scored his second try of the match when he received a reverse pass from Ali Price and bounded over the line.  Healy was accurate with the conversion as the Scots opened up a 15-6 advantage.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Josh Bayliss with a lovely finish out wide for Scotland. #SCOvITA pic.twitter.com/t41k7oWmgf

― Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) July 29, 2023

Italy got back into the match just after the hour, however, when Ioane went over on the left after a lovely pass from Allan, who duly converted.

Leicester lock Cam Henderson became the second Scotland debutant of the afternoon when he replaced Scott Cummings and the hosts regained control when Healy kicked another penalty in the 74th minute.

The Scots finished on a high note, with substitute Bayliss scoring his first international try – converted by the impressive Healy – in the last action of the match.