Six Nations: 'Huge pressure' on Scotland but 50-cap great cites key factor in their favour

The Scots go into the opening weekend of the championship on the back of a disappointing autumn campaign which saw them lose to New Zealand and Argentina after putting themselves in positions to win both games.

Wilson, capped 50 times by Scotland, will lead Premier Sports’ coverage of the match at the Stadio Olimpico this weekend and senses there is a growing frustration among the Scottish rugby public with the so-called ‘golden generation’.

However, he believes the talented group can deliver, particularly if they lean heavily into what Franco Smith has been doing with his Glasgow Warriors team.

The Scotstoun club are top of the United Rugby Championship and flying high in Europe and their form is reflected in the make-up of the squad chosen by Gregor Townsend, with the Scotland head coach selecting 20 Warriors players.

Franco Smith's fingerprints on both teams

“I'm as nervous as the next Scotsman, but I think we'll win,” said Wilson, who made over 200 appearances for the Warriors and was part of the side that won the Pro12 in 2015. “You can't look past what Glasgow have been doing recently, what Franco Smith's got those boys doing, the depth of the squad.

“The only thing that worries me is that I'm not writing Italy off because they're also trending in the right direction and have a pretty handy squad with a good coach that's got them firing as well.

“Franco Smith's fingerprints are on that team as well, which is always a worry, but I think it can be a good win for Scotland. The main thing is having a good performance, making sure that it's a pretty clinical performance that they can be happy with rolling into a huge, huge Calcutta Cup game back at Murrayfield.”

Smith was Italian rugby’s head of high performance before being appointed by Glasgow in 2022 and put in place some of the foundations which have led to Italy’s improvement. They beat Australia in the autumn and also defeated Scotland in Rome in 2024.

Time for golden generation to deliver

Scotland face England in Edinburgh in round two of the Six Nations and Steve Borthwick’s side are in excellent form having won 11 games in a row. But it’s Italy up first and Townsend will name his side on Thursday morning. Wilson thinks the Glasgow spine augmented by exiles such as Bath’s Finn Russell and Toulouse’s Blair Kinghorn will be too strong for Italy but accepts there is pressure on them to deliver given the talent within the group.

“That squad, everyone's talking about ‘the golden generation, it's time they did something’,” said Wilson. “They have got everything they need in there. But there is a huge amount of pressure on them now.”

The former back-row forward thinks the success of his former club in winning the United Rugby Championship in 2024 has instilled a strong mentality in the players and that the same applies to Russell and Kinghorn following their league and European successes in England and France, respectively.

“With Scotland, they take what they've learned at Glasgow over the last three years under Franco, put it into a Scotland shirt and take a little bit from Finn Russell doing what he did at Bath last year, you know, take a little bit from Blair Kinghorn who's ingrained in that Toulouse shirt with some absolute greats of rugby.

“They've got what it takes, but the pressure is massively on for them.”

Saturday’s game is a landmark for Premier Sports which is broadcasting a Six Nations fixture for the first time. Wilson will be joined by former internationals Duncan Weir and Sebastian Negri. Alongside the main coverage on Premier Sports 1, Premier Sports 2 will have continuous ‘suspended spider cam’ footage “to provide an immersive audience experience” without commentary but with ref mic and crowd atmosphere, similar to what has been done in the NFL.

Ryan Wilson will join Duncan Weir and Sebastian Negri for Premier Sports' live coverage of Italy v Scotland this 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 2026 Guinness Men’s Six Nations Championship across the UK - further strengthening its position as the home of elite rugby for rugby fans which includes EPCR rugby, Top 14 and URC. To join in visit www.premiersports.com from £11.99 a month.