Gregor Townsend\u2019s Scotland have been told this has to be the year they finally unlock their potential and pick up some Six Nations silverware.<\/p>\n
The Scots have not won a Triple Crown, let alone a championship or Grand Slam in the quarter of a century since the tournament expanded to six teams.<\/p>\n
They have lost 84 of their 130 matches, only five times finished higher than fourth, never placed in the top two and never recorded four wins in a single campaign.<\/p>\n
This squad should be the one to put that right. It is so full of quality that Duhan van der Merwe and Darcy Graham, the two top try scorers in Scottish history, cannot get in the side to face Italy in Rome on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Blair Kinghorn, who plays for six-time European champions Toulouse and was one of a record 13 Scottish Lions in Australia last summer, cannot even make the bench.<\/p>\n
The bookmakers think they have seen this movie before. Despite Kinghorn, Finn Russell, Huw Jones and Sione Tuipulotu all starting Tests for the British and Irish Lions in Australia, they are rated 14\/1 also-rans.<\/p>\n
\u2018Those Glasgow boys at the moment are on another level\u2019<\/p>\n
Despite England and France having to come to Murrayfield, the Scots<\/a> are priced above only hapless Wales for the Triple Crown.<\/p>\n Despite Glasgow\u2019s unbeaten start to the Champions Cup, so impressive that none of powerhouses Sale, Toulouse, Clermont and Saracens could live with them, Townsend\u2019s team is not considered close to matching the sum of its parts.<\/p>\n They would appear to be a rugby nation grievously disrespected were it not for the fact that there is no body of evidence, save for notable one-off wins, to counter the argument.\u00a0<\/p>\n So yes, they have lost only twice in eight games to arch rivals England. But in only four of those eight campaigns did they emerge with more Six Nations wins than losses.<\/p>\n Ryan Wilson knows all about that history, having lived much of it during a 50-cap Scotland career between 2013 and 2020. He understands the reluctance to talk up the chances of his old team.<\/p>\n Scotland team winners and losers: Gregor Townsend\u2019s \u2018sensational selection call\u2019 as trio become \u2018victims\u2019 of law change<\/a><\/p>\n That the sight of this squad coughing up a 21-0 lead after half-time to lose at home to Argentina in November merely confirmed, in the eyes of many, that this is what Scotland does.<\/p>\n Yet so impressed has he been with Glasgow\u2019s form, recognised by Townsend with nine Warriors in Saturday\u2019s starting 15, that he genuinely believes it will galvanise the national team.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat Glasgow<\/a> is doing has transformed the mood of Scottish rugby,\u201d says the Premier Sports pundit. \u201cThose Glasgow boys at the moment are on another level.<\/p>\n \u201cI think every Scotsman and Scotswoman talking about Scotland are so reluctant to say, \u2018look at the team we\u2019ve got, this has to be our year\u2019. Because it is something we have said over the last three or four years.\u00a0<\/p>\n Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you genuinely feel the way Glasgow have gone about their business and are doing what they\u2019re doing, is all the more reason it has to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Wilson adds: \u201cLook, this first match is a huge one. Scotland are odds-on in Rome, but Italy are no mugs. They won the fixture last time it was played there.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of pressure on Scotland to perform. Never mind, it COULD be a banana skin, it IS a very tough game. I think Scotland will be happy to get a win of any shape or form.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe saw Glasgow go over to Zebre three weeks ago. Franco Smith put out a pretty stacked team and they stuttered through that. It just shows it\u2019s not an easy place to go and play.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s huge to have him back\u2019<\/p>\n If the Scots are to shine in a campaign which sees England in Edinburgh on Saturday week, followed by Wales away, France home and Ireland away, Wilson points to the return of Jones as crucial.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a big game player, Huw [Jone], a big moment player,\u201d says the 36-year-old of a midfielder who only returned from five months injury absence in January.<\/p>\n Scotland team: Greatest try-scorers dropped as Gregor Townsend backs Glasgow Warriors core for Six Nations opener<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHuw will touch the ball five times, and four times something special happens. Four big things. He\u2019s someone you can just rely on. He reads the game so well.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s huge to have him back. He came back firing for Glasgow at Clermont; it was like he hadn\u2019t missed a beat. It was incredible.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat partnership between him and Sione we\u2019ve seen deliver in some very big games for club, country and Lions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThen there\u2019s the sense Huw and Finn [Russell] are on a similar wavelength. They\u2019re both pretty relaxed, don\u2019t get too stressed, see things maybe others don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n From Pierre Schoeman at one to Tom Jordan, who has played beautifully this season for Bristol, at 15, Scotland has a starting team that can do damage. They also have a bench blessed with power and speed.<\/p>\n Mix in Glasgow\u2019s winning mindset, and the ghosts of the Argentina defeat should be quickly banished.\u00a0<\/p>\n Should. Because with Scotland, you never quite know for sure.<\/p>\n Ryan Wilson will join Duncan Weir and Sebastian Negri for Premier Sports\u2019 live coverage of Italy v Scotland\u00a0this Saturday starting at 1.30pm on Premier Sports 1. For the first time, in a new partnership with Six Nations Rugby, Premier Sports will broadcast five live matches from the Guinness Men\u2019s\u00a0Six Nations Championship across the UK \u2013 further strengthening its position as the home of\u00a0elite rugby for rugby fans which includes EPCR rugby, Top 14 and URC.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition,\u00a0Premier Sports 2\u00a0will offer continuous \u2018suspended spider cam\u2019 footage of the game from the skies to give what the broadcaster describe as an immersive audience experience (no commentary, just ref mic and crowd).\u00a0To join, visit\u00a0www.premiersports.com<\/a>\u00a0from \u00a311.99 a month.\u00a0<\/p>\n