Robinson calls for big 80 minutes

RBS 6 Nations Championship
Venue: Murrayfield Date: Saturday, 19 March Kick-off: 1430 GMT
Coverage: Watch on BBC One, BBC HD channel and the BBC Sport website; listen on BBC Radio 5 live and local radio; text commentary on BBC Sport website and mobiles

Andy Robinson says Scotland players must perform for a full 80 minutes against Italy if they are to avoid the Six Nations Wooden Spoon.

“I’ve been really pleased with the attitude and the way we’ve been looking to improve our game,” said the coach.

“But we haven’t been able to play for a whole 80 minutes.

“Going into this game, it’s about an 80-minute performance, every element of our performance, every set-piece, it’s vital that we win it.”

Scotland have lost three of their last four Six Nations meetings with Italy, who will enter the match on a high following their 22-21 defeat of France in Rome last Saturday.

The hosts enter the final match of the tournament seeking to avoid a first wooden spoon since 2007, when Italy secured their solitary Six Nations away win at Murrayfield.

Scotland’s narrow, tight style that secured five wins in six Tests in 2010 – against Ireland, Argentina (twice), world champions South Africa and Samoa – has gone and been replaced by an expansive running game.

If we can do that, keep hold of the ball and keep our composure, I have total belief in the team Scotland head coach Andy Robinson

But the lineout was under particular pressure at Twickenham and Robinson has demanded an improvement against a powerful Azzurri side.

“We’ve been severely punished for the mistakes that we’ve made and we’ve made a lot of errors inside our third,” he said.

“The Italians are a very good side. They’ve performed well in every game of this championship bar the England game.

“We’ve got to focus on ourselves. It’s about putting the Italians under pressure when we’re attacking.

“If we can do that, keep hold of the ball and keep our composure, I have total belief in the team.”

Scotland captain Alastair Kellock has recovered from a foot injury in time to lead the team out and is determined to end a disappointing campaign on a high note.

“It’s a massive game for us, we know that,” said the Glasgow Warriors lock.

“We’ve got to take positives from the England game and use the momentum we’ve got – even though we were beaten – to push for a top performance that it will take to beat the Italians, especially on the back of the win they’ve just had.”

A late Max Evans try brought Scotland within a converted score of England at Twickenham and Kellock has taken heart from what was a gutsy display.

“We had a real chance of winning that game; everybody realises how special it would’ve been had we done so,” he added.

“We’ve got to look at the things we did well, take them on board and push to get a performance this week.

“Over the last few games, our line-out has gone well and it didn’t function anywhere near where it needed to. We’ve got a lot to work on.”