Huw Jones savoured a hard-fought Six Nations triumph over Italy but warned that Scotland will need to raise their game if they are to get the better of an Ireland side that have ‘had our number for years’. Jones ran in his first hat-trick for a decade as Gregor Townsend’s side overcame stubborn Italian resistance to open this year’s championship with a bonus-point win. The Scots looked to be on course for a straightforward victory when they forged into an early 14-0 lead to be pegged back at 19-19 early in the second half as the visitors threatened to land a first Murrayfield success since 2015.

Jones’ two late tries ended that prospect and kept alive Scotland’s chances of a first ever Six Nations title. Their next challenge, though, pits them against Ireland who last night opened the defence of their championship with a victory over England. Scotland have never beaten the Irish in 10 attempts on Townsend’s watch and Jones admits finally getting the better of their Celtic rivals is something that motivates the squad ahead of next Sunday’s clash at Murrayfield.

The Glasgow centre said: ‘We’ve wanted this one [a win over Ireland] for a long time and never quite got it. So, it’s a huge challenge for us. They’re obviously a very, very good side. And they’ve shown that with all the results in the past – not just against us, but against a lot of other teams. So, we know that it’s going to be a massive challenge. Jones helped himself to a hat-trick of tries against Italy.

Ben White also touched down as Scotland saw off their Italian challenge on day one of the Six Nations. ‘It’s a real cliché but it’s the big-match temperament, isn’t it? That’s what we need to find within this squad. We’ve had it in games in the past but never stayed together. I feel like I say the same thing every year. ‘Next week is a huge challenge so I guess it’s a chance for us to show how much growth we’ve made. Last year one of our best performances was away at Ireland. It was a close game. But again, one of those where we didn’t quite take our chances. We were our own worst enemy in that game.

‘But the fact that we stuck it out and it was close gave us a bit of confidence. A loss is always pretty disappointing but we do have a bit of confidence. ‘This is the one we want. I mean, they’ve had our number for years now so it’s time to front up and have a really special performance. ‘We have an inner belief in our squad but we’ve said that before and not been on the right side of the result. So, it’s about turning up and getting the job done. We believe we can win but it’s going out there and doing it. And that’s the real test.’.

Jones admitted that Scotland hadn’t turned in an 80-minute performance against Italy but felt there were still plenty of positives to be extracted. ‘This has been a good start,’ he added. ‘I think the fact that the game wasn’t perfect and there were swings of momentum is probably quite good preparation for us. The way we wrestled back control, didn’t panic when things went wrong – there’ll definitely be work-ons, so we’ll look at that in the next couple of days.

‘That was a big focus for us coming into the Six Nations. No game’s ever going to be perfect. There’ll be times – swings of momentum – we may go ahead, they may go ahead. But it’s staying in the fight and being there right at the end.’. Rory Darge had set Scotland on their way with an early first-half try. Jones breaks free of the Italian defence to touch down for his third - and Scotland's fifth - try.

Jones modestly deflected praise onto his team-mates after claiming what he believed to be his first hat-trick for a decade. Asked when his last one was, he replied: ‘That’s a good question. A long time ago. I’ve not scored one for Scotland before. I don’t think it was at Glasgow. Maybe at Stormers. I scored four in one game at Stormers. ‘The tries were all different. I was pretty happy to follow Darcy [Graham] and Duhan [van der Merwe] around the field and get passes from them. And then for the other one I had to do a little bit more work for it. But I’m really happy to get three tries. It’s always special.’.

Townsend praised Jones’ contribution, the centre emerging from the shadow of the injured Sione Tuipulotu to become a Scotland match-winner in his own right. ‘He scored three tries but I reckon Huw has probably missed out on another five or six tries over the last few games because he’s just not had the ball,’ said the head coach. ‘He offers himself on brilliant lines that sometimes fix defences and other people get the space. He supported really well and the ball found him.’.

Townsend admits to having concerns when Italy pulled level at 19-19 but took satisfaction from the way his players took control of the latter stages to force the win. ‘It’s positive that we started with a win and managed to score five tries,’ he added. ‘To go through that test when we were leading for most of the game, then go 19-all and come through it, that’s going to prepare us really well for the tests that are going to come.