Italy opened their 2025 Six Nations Under 20 Championships with a 22-10 win over Scotland U20 at the Hive Stadium tonight. In last year’s U20 Six Nations, Italy ran out convincing winners as they beat Scotland U20 47-14.
Despite two fantastic team tries, the Scots came undone in the second half thanks to two tries and numerous penalties.
Italy U20 kicked off the match towards the Riverside Stand of Hive Stadium. Scotland U20 won two penalties within the first 90 seconds. The first penalty was granted after Jack Brown was taken in the air and the second for the Italian player not rolling away. Scotland had gotten into their opposition’s 22 but the lineout was deemed squint by tonight’s referee Sara Cox.
Scotland had set up some good attacking phases but conceded a penalty for holding onto the ball. Italy had the attack from the home side’s 22 but a huge defensive shift from Scotland saw them win the scrum and in turn, a free kick.
Imminently, Italy were back in Scottish territory but Scotland again had managed to win a penalty due to the young Azzurri sealing off in the ruck. They had conceded another very shortly after.
Scotland won another penalty at the breakdown and managed to get themselves 10 metres from the Italian’s line. Scotland used their strong driving maul to get Billy Allen to open the scoring for the home side just after 15 minutes. The conversion was missed. (5-0).
Italy looked to break away through Jules Ducros, but a forward pass spoiled any chance, and Scotland had the scrum which won them a penalty as the Italians engaged early. Scotland had some strong carries and were so close but conceded a penalty for holding onto the ball. The kick didn’t find touch and the Scots were on the rampage again.
Then, Italy won the penalty and had the lineout on our 22-metre line. Dan Halkon looked like he had managed to get onto the ball, but the ref saw differently, and the Italians won another penalty which took them just 5 metres out. A huge defensive shift from the boys in blue saw the ball get held up over the line.
Italy looked to break away, but another forward pass put the end to that. Scotland passed the ball along their back line but great timing from Italy’s Federico Zanandrea perfectly intercepted the ball and made a 40-metre dash under the sticks to get the Italians on the scoreboard at the half-hour mark. The conversion from Roberto Fasti was an easy success. (5-7)
After a commotion as to whether the Italian lineout was squint or not from the travelling fans, a knock-on saw possession back in favour of the Scots. From the back of the ruck, Matthew Urwin kicked the ball out to close the first half with the Italians leading 07-05 at the halftime break.
Scotland put in a huge attacking shift and a knock-on from Italy just inside their half gave Scotland a good opportunity. They had won a penalty before the scrum even happened and had the lineout on the Italian 22. However, Alessio Caiolo-Serra stole the ball. A break from Ducros saw the Italians dash up-field and Niccolo Beni crossed the whitewash with six minutes of the second half played. The conversion was missed. (5-12).
Scotland went on the counterattack, but Italy managed to turn over the ball in the ruck. The visitors made a run up the far side wing but went into touch and Scotland was back on the ball. The forwards made some strong carries but conceded a penalty for holding onto the ball in the ruck. Fasti looked to add three points from about 50 metres out, but he missed, and the Scots were back in action.
However, the ball was put in touch and the Italians were making in yards – the Italian openside flanker passed the ball to no one and the Scots had the lineout just 5 metres from their own line. The Italians however won back possession and fought for every inch as the Scots were letting them get nowhere. However, Beni saw the gap for Edoardo Todaro to dot down right between the sticks in the 62nd minute. The conversion from Fasti was again a success (5-19).
Guy Rogers made a great run down his right wing and was just five away from glory when he was taken down. The Italians won the ball in the turnover and kicked to clear but great work from Jack Brown managed to get the ball in the air and land still on the pitch. The Scots set up for a strong attack, but an unfortunate forward pass gave Italy the scrum.
Italy enjoyed some possession but when they kicked to clear, Jack Brown took the ball well and made a great run to get his side gaining metres. The Italians a few phases later turned the ball over, but a knock-on from them gave the Scottish boys a scrum and then a penalty just out of Italy’s 22.
The subsequent lineout maul also gave the Scots a penalty advantage. When they came back for the penalty advantage, the next maul and forwards phases saw Oliver Duncan reap the joys of his first-ever Scotland U20 try at 72 minutes. The conversion was unfortunately missed (10-19).
From the restart, Italy won a scrum and then worked up the pitch but was tackled into touch by Rogers to give Scotland some respite. However, it didn’t matter as the Italians won a free kick from the scrum and then a penalty. Fasti kicked an extra three points to widen the gap with just 90 seconds left to play (10-22).
Scotland from the restart managed to keep possession and get just 5 metres away again. They also won a penalty in that attack, however, they were tackled from the tap and go and the Italians managed to turn the ball over and they kicked the ball out to end the game in the Italian’s favour.
Scorers:
Scotland: Tries: Billy Allen, Ollie Duncan.
Italy: Tries: Federico Zanandrea, Niccolo Beni, Edoardo Todaro. Conversions: Roberto Fasti (2). Penalty: Roberto Fasti.
Teams:
Scotland U20: 15 Jack Brown, 14 Guy Rogers, 13 Johnny Ventisei (c), 12 Kerr Yules, 11 Fergus Watson, 10 Matthew Urwin, 9 Noah Cowan, 8 Reuben Logan, 7 Billy Allen, 6 Christian Lindsay, 5 Dan Halkon, 4 Charlie Moss, 3 Ollie Blyth-Lafferty, 2 Joe Roberts, 1 Oliver McKenna. Replacements: 16 Seb Stephen, 17 Jake Shearer, 18 Ryan Whitefield, 19 Bart Godsell, 20 Oliver Duncan, 21 Hector Patterson, 22 Ross Wolfenden, 23 Nairn Moncrieff.
Italy U20: 15 Gianmarco Pietramala, 14 Jules Ducros, 13 Federico Zanandrea, 12 Edoardo Todaro, 11 Malik Faissal, 10 Roberto Fasti, 9 Niccolò Beni, 8 Giacomo Milano (c), 7 Nelson Casartelli), 6 Antony Miranda, 5 Enoch Opoku Gyamfi, 4 Tommaso Redondi, 3 Bruno Vallesi, 2 Alessio Caiolo Serra, 1 Sergio Pelliccioli. Replacements: 16 Giacomo Casiraghi, 17 Christian Brasini, 18 Nicola Bolognini, 19 Pietro Melegari, 20 Carlo Antonio Bianchi, 21 Matteo Bellotto, 22 Pietro Celi, 23 Giacomo Ndoumbe Lobe.