EDINBURGH, Scotland — Moments of brilliance by a backline shorn of its best player spared Scotland from a second straight humbling by Italy in Six Nations rugby on Saturday.
Scotland won 31-19 at Murrayfield thanks to two tries by center Huw Jones after Italy rallied to tie the score at 19-19 going into the last quarter.
Right wing Darcy Graham conjured a break from nowhere in the 61st minute for Jones to score the tiebreaker. Then replacement center Tom Jordan’s huge miss-out pass unleashed Jones again in the 66th to bash through three defenders for the clincher.
Jones’ first test hat trick was a mild surprise considering he was without his regular midfield partner Sione Tuipulotu, the captain and form back who was out of the tournament after damaging a pectoral muscle last month.
Without Tuipulotu’s sharp edge, Scotland’s forwards carried more in a narrow attack while the backline struggled to flow. Scotland’s bogey team Ireland will be a much bigger hurdle next weekend at Murrayfield.
For a while, Tuipulotu wasn’t missed as Scotland blasted off to 14-0 inside nine minutes and 19-9 by halftime. Tries by Rory Darge, Jones and Ben White promised a party.
But Italy, which beat Scotland in Rome a year ago, stayed in touch thanks to four penalties in the 40-48-meter range by Tommaso Allan.
Then center Juan Ignacio Brex intercepted Scotland co-captain Finn Russell and bolted 60 meters to dive between the posts and tie the score and hush a stunned stadium.
But Scotland pulled out two more superlative moments from its backline to squeak home.
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