Scotland produces brilliant backline moments to subdue Italy in Six Nations

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — 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 with a bonus point.

“A good enough team performance but we can be a lot better,” Russell said.

The game had barely started when a Scotland penalty in front of the posts was tapped and Darge drove through three defenders to touch down. Then Russell's loop around gave an overlap to wing Duhan van der Merwe, who fed an unmarked Jones inside to score.

Italy finally touched the ball and worked hard but couldn't get near the Scotland 22. Scotland conceded only four penalties in the first half and Allan slotted three of them to bring his team into the game.

The Scots found another purple patch in the middle of the half. A 13-phase attack died when Russell had the ball jolted from him by Lorenzo Cannone, but a lineout maul finished with Dave Cherry breaking off and backpassing for scrumhalf White to score in the right corner.

Scotland had three tries to nil but Italy was emboldened by the close score, and Allan nailed a fourth penalty to start the second half. Then Brex accepted Russell's gift pass for the try and tying score.

It got tense in Murrayfield until Graham, appearing in his first Six Nations in three years, stepped three defenders inside his own half, suddenly found space, drew the last man and let Jones fly in.

“The carries I got influenced the game and some big moments off the back of that which I'm happy with,” Graham said. “Penalties kept them in the game, it was our mistakes, so it was just about sticking to our game plan and wait for somebody to bring that spark.”

Jones, for one, was grateful.

“It was a big turning point," Jones said. "There wasn't really anything on for him but Darcy will find a gap where there isn't one. I just had to keep up with him.”

Italy go home to face Wales in a potential wooden spoon decider, while Scotland hope to confirm a title run when defending champion Ireland visit.

“I don't want to say that our confidence is sky high,” Jones said. “We're happy with the win today but our focus is on taking it week by week.”

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

Italy's Monty Ioane (right) and Scotland's Darcy Graham during the Six Nations rugby union match between Scotland and Italy, at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Feb. 1, 2025. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)

Scotland's Rory Darge scores the opening try during the Six Nations rugby union match between Scotland and Italy, at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Feb. 1, 2025. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)

Scotland's Huw Jones scores a try during the Six Nations rugby union match between Scotland and Italy, at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Feb. 1, 2025. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)

Scotland's Huw Jones scores a try during the Six Nations rugby union match between Scotland and Italy, at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland, Saturday Feb. 1, 2025. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)

ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.

Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.

U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.

"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”

Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.

Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.

“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”

Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.

U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.

Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.

Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.

Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.

"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.

The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.

The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.

“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.

“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”

The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)