Scrum of the Earth /

Scotland and Italy occupy up their perennial losers seats in the RBS 6 Nations table and the two starving nations will battle over the silver cutlery with the losers having to settle for a wooden spoon.

Unlike Rome, a city of plentiful beauty and fashionable population, the rugby will be an ugly feast of smash & grab ball carrying played out by a bunch of bruisers topping the menu.

Scotland may have won the Calcutta Cup based on a resilience, guts and passion and a marginally better kicking game than England, but Italy have style and ambition despite not being able to always execute their ideas.

Frank Hadden will be devastated that the weather forecast predicts sunshine with a slight southerly wind. He would much rather prefer it to be hammering it down with a ferociously blowing northern gale - anything to mask his team's inferiority complex when it comes to scoring tries.

Scotland cannot continue their barren spell of scoring for much longer or else the players will start believing they are cursed and have to give up wearing kilts and sporting constant frowns.

Italy haven't faired much better but they have an excuse in Andrea Masi who is only playing his fifth game at fly-half and hasn't quite grasped that there is a life outside the centre pairing just yet.

In Sergio Parisse and Martin Castrogiovanni they have two brutes that would easily fit into any World XV even if they struggle to find a comfortable jersey to slip into.

If Italy avoid the dreaded wooden spoon, it will represent a successful tournament barring the demolition suffered in Cardiff, and a five point victory is well within their grasp, especially as they have props who can even score tries.

Scotland will settle for a couple of notches on the scoreboard from Chris Paterson, but if they play for penalties then the Azzurri will trample all over them as their forwards have slightly more upstairs and piles more endeavor.

Prediction: Italy to win by eight points.

Date: Saturday, 15 March
Venue: Stadio Flaminio, Rome
Kick-off: 14:00 (13:00 GMT)