Blair Kinghorn hat-trick seals dominant Six Nations win for Scotland against lacklustre Italy

Relive all the latest updates from the Six Nations clash at Murrayfield

Six Nations preview: Scotland in profile

Winger Blair Kinghorn scored a hat-trick of tries and pivot Finn Russell provided decisive moments of genius as Scotland got their Six Nations campaign off to a winning start with a 33-20 victory over Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Scotland scored five tries to three for Italy for a deserved win, headlined by Kinghorn's three scores but inspired by Russell's clever touches, both out of the hands and with the boot.

They let a 31-3 lead slip in the final 10 minutes after Simon Berghan was yellow carded and Italy took advantage of the one-man advantage to score through Guglielmo Palazzani, Edoardo Padovani and Angelo Esposito to give some late gloss to the Italy score.

Stuart Hogg got Scotland's third try, although television replays cast doubt on its veracity, and substitute Chris Harris went over for their fifth.

Reuters

Relive all the action below.

[2 February 2019 09:21 · Jack de Menezes]

Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of today's Six Nations clash between Scotland and Italy, brought to you from Murrayfield.

With the game due to kick-off at 2:15pm, we'll begin our full coverage just after 1pm to build-up towards the match as well as look back on a frantic opening affair in Paris as Wales defeated France.

[2 February 2019 13:39 · Tom Kershaw]

There are just 45 minutes to go until Scotland open their Six Nations campaign at Murrayfield. 

Italy haven't defeated Scotland since 2015, but came just a whisker away when the pair last met in March - Greig Laidlaw's 79th-minute penalty edging the Scots to a 29-27 victory in Rome.

[2 February 2019 13:41 · Tom Kershaw]

[2 February 2019 13:43 · Tom Kershaw]

[2 February 2019 13:45 · Tom Kershaw]

Australian-born Sam Johnson makes his debut for Scotland today, having qualified for the national team through residency last summer. 

[2 February 2019 13:46 · Tom Kershaw]

[2 February 2019 13:53 · Tom Kershaw]

Does this year's Six Nations take on less importance with the World Cup in Japan coming later in the year? Quite the opposite.

[2 February 2019 13:58 · Tom Kershaw]

Scottish talisman Greig Laidlaw is calling on last year's thrilling win in Rome for inspiration ahead of today's game:

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 this game'. Everyone stuck to the plan and, ultimately, that's how it panned out.

[2 February 2019 14:06 · Tom Kershaw]

Here's a reminder of today's line-ups starting with the hosts:

Scotland: 15-Stuart Hogg, 14-Tommy Seymour, 13-Huw Jones, 12-Sam Johnson, 11-Blair Kinghorn; 10-Finn Russell, 9-Greig Laidlaw; 1-Allan Dell, 2-Stuart McInally, 3-Willem Nel, 4-Ben Toolis, 5-Grant Gilchrist, 6-Sam Skinner, 7-Jamie Ritchie, 8-Ryan Wilson.

Replacements: 16-Jake Kerr, 17-Jamie Bhatti, 18-Simon Berghan, 19-Gary Graham, 20-Josh Strauss, 21-Ali Price, 22-Adam Hastings, 23-Chris Harris.

[2 February 2019 14:07 · Tom Kershaw]

Italy: 15-Jayden Hayward, 14-Angelo Esposito, 13-Luca Morisi, 12-Tommaso Castello, 11-Michele Campagnaro; 10-Tommaso Allan, 9-Tito Tebaldi; 1-Andrea Lovotti, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 3-Simone Ferrari, 4-David Sisi, 5-Dean Budd, 6-Sebastian Negri, 7-Braam Steyn, 8-Sergio Parisse.

Replacements: 16-Luca Bigi, 17-Cherif Traore, 18-Tiziano Pasquali, 19-Jimmy Tuivaiti, 20-Federico Ruzza, 21-Guglielmo Palazzani, 22-Ian McKinley, 23-Edoardo Padovani.