Under the posts and 12 points down in Rome, John Barclay and Greig Laidlaw took a grip of Scotland in a proper Ides of March crisis against Italy.
“We gave a couple of clear messages,” said Laidlaw, now restored as captain with Barclay out for the Guinness 6 Nations championship through injury. “I vividly remember being under the posts after they scored, and saying this is exactly how we’re going to play for the next 20 minutes, and this is how we are going to win the game.
“Everyone stuck to the plan and, ultimately, that’s how it panned out.”
It was Scotland’s biggest comeback to victory in recent memory – from 24-12 behind they eventually won 29-27 – and can be a rallying point for this weekend’s championship opener against the Italians at BT Murrayfield.
“It does give us confidence,” said the skipper. “We didn’t want to be in that position, but we’ve watched parts of that game this week, and understood how we got ourselves into it.
“Ultimately, though, we won a Test match, and that’s pleasing, even when we didn’t put our best performance out we were able to get that win away from home.”
Back at home, where Scotland have won 10 of their last 12 games – defeated only by New Zealand and South Africa – Scotland should be heavy favourites against an Italian side that has not won in their last 17 games in the 6 Nations, however close they came and however unlucky they were when they last faced the Scots.
There’s a wariness in the Scotland camp and an unwillingness to agree this game represents a “good introduction” to the championship. Scotland have never had Italy at home in the first game since Five Nations became Six, and many see it as a springboard rather than a proper contest, but Laidlaw dismisses that notion.
“This is the first game in the Six Nations and doesn’t matter who we are playing against,” he said. “This is a massive game and we need to win.
“It is not November – this is the big time. We’ve spoken about that this week and we’ve trained like that, which is really pleasing. We’re ready to go and we need to take that confidence from what we’ve done in training, and our record at BT Murrayfield, into that performance.”
What Scotland have identified needs to be different from the first hour in Rome a year ago is dictating their pace on the game.
“The breakdown is an area we’ve looked at and I think it’s an area where teams will come at us,” he continued. “We’ve worked hard around there, and working smart is going to be key.
“Speed to rucks is going to be vitally important if you have a good attack shape and put speed on the play rucks become easier. That is a big part of taking the game to (Italy) and to kind of take the referee out of it; show him we’re short, sharp and clean in that area.”
Scotland also took advantage of Italy falling off the pace alarmingly as that game went on, but Laidlaw doesn’t think that’s something they can rely upon.
“I think they’ve changed the way they play – Treviso certainly have at club level – and they’re better equipped to cope with the hi-tempo game,” he said. “It comes back to us backing ourselves and making them defend.”
One of the big factors in the turnaround in the last game was that Laidlaw moved to 10 as an off-colour Finn Russell was hooked early, but the skipper believes that the mercurial stand-off is maturing in his new environs in Paris and is assuming much more of a leadership role.
“I think Finn’s doing very well, he went to Racing as a big signing and I don’t think he’s disappointed,” he said. “He’s been really sharp for them, they qualified pretty convincingly in the end for the quarter finals in Europe, and they’re going fairly well in the league.
“Sometimes we’re going to have to look to him in big test matches and he’s more than ready to deliver, I think, to understand his role as a key leader in the team.
“He’s taken that on his shoulders think, he’s been really good in camp this week, driven the team forward and given us real direction purpose.
“He’s definitely matured as a player now. That’s sometimes what can be brilliant about moving out of your comfort zone.”
Laidlaw thinks new cap Sam Johnson will slot in “very easily” alongside Russell and Huw Jones.
“They certainly knew each other from playing for Glasgow and Finn’s played a lot with Huw Jones as well, so having that sort of man on either side of Sam like that will help,” said the captain.
“But Sam’s taken everything in his stride this week, he looks ready to play, he’s full of confidence and excited as any player would be for his first cap.
“I think that combination, if we can generate quick ball, will be exciting to watch.”
