SCOTLAND have tasted defeat on five of their previous nine visits to the Eternal City but all that is ancient history so far as Gregor Townsend and his camp are concerned. As some welcome mid-afternoon sun bathed the Stadio Olimpico in Rome yesterday it was left to captain John Barclay and assistant coach Mike Blair, two men with no shortage of Italian ignominy to look back on, to emphasise the point that this is a new Scotland, and also a new Italy.

While Scotland’s away day misadventures are well rehearsed, it is at least something that our slip-ups against the Italians are getting further away into the middle distance. The visitors today are hunting a sixth successive victory against the Italians – at one of the few away venues where Scotland are capable of winning on Six Nations duty. Our last road win in this competition was a 36-20 win here in February 2016.

Some of the fresher members of this squad, even seasoned players such as Finn Russell, don’t even know what it feels like to stumble against the Italians, something which was once assumed to be our lot in life. Not so Gregor Townsend, part of the team who stumbled in Italy’s very first Six Nations match, held at the old Stadio Flamini. Or Barclay and Blair, both guilty men when Scotland went down 13-6 in 2012, the first time the Italian Rugby Federation took their matches onto this space age construction on the other bank of the Tiber. “I have had some good experiences here and I have had some not so good experiences,” said Barclay. “Playing here is tricky - the crowd will come out and it will be pretty berserk to start with.

“They are very passionate and get behind the players,” the captain added. “Every test match is pretty brutal and they will be pretty frustrated at how their own campaign has gone. They have played some good stuff and have some quality players. I would rather not think about that [ matches gone past]. I am trying to focus coming here and winning.”

“The one I look back on was the first game here [Stadio Olimpico] in 2012, I played in that one and we got beaten, so I didn’t enjoy it too much,” said Blair. “They played well that day, [Martin] Castrogiovanni [the prop forward] was man of the match that day, and they got a roll on which we weren’t able to stop. So we are obviously keen to avoid that kind of thing happening again.

“You know what it is like, you can go back, look at the history and stuff,” Blair added. “But this is two new teams. The Italians have built on Zebre and Treviso’s improved form. They are playing a fair bit of rugby and some good rugby, so I don’t think we will look back on the history too much.”

So bad are Italy’s statistics that it would hardly be a surprise if they too want to apply some historical amnesia. They are playing to avoid the fate of registering a 17th defeat in a row, a milestone which only France, between 1911 and 1920, ever managed to achieve.

This, of course, is a harsh fate on a world class veteran like Sergio Parisse – a rugby equivalent of a star turn like Ryan Giggs who found himself marooned in a team with little hope of success, who could today record his 100th defeat. It is rough too on smart coach like Conor O’Shea. Because whether it all crystallises in time for today, there are signs that a new Italian renaissance may not be fair away, led by standard bearers such as back row forward Sebastian Negri and full back Matteo Minozzi.There is an unpredictability to this Italy team that hasn’t always been the case.

“I don’t think banana skin is the right word but we are very aware that we need to play well to win the game,” says Blair. “We can’t let them upset our rhythm and get their own set piece game going. They have had a very good set piece in this Six Nations and we respect what Italy have done. Apart from the Irish game, they have been in matches for long periods of time. They have some quality players who have come in, back row in particular, and full back. They have some real star quality players – something that they have had in fewer numbers previously but they have a few really good players coming through now.”

Townsend’s Scotland selection favoured experience over experimentation, with all but one of his five changes - New Zealand born centre Nick Grigg - bringing more experience to the party than the one who came out. A big role is also forecast for the likes of Stuart McInally and Richie Gray from the bench after what is expected to be a gruelling first part of the match.

Whether it was part of the phoney war or not, the sense that this Scotland side are less vulnerable than they have been in the past was certainly a theme taken up yesterday by Italy captain Sergio Parisse. Barclay expressed disbelief that Scotland could be the team to inflict his long-term adversary’s 100th defeat and said that of course it was no reflection on his talents.

“He’s one of the best players ever to have played,” said Barclay. “He’s a quality players, he’s a talisman and has played 140 odd games for Italy. Regardless of everything, that’s quite and achievement. He’s still motivated and is playing well in basically every game for Italy and is obviously one of their best players and someone we need to keep an eye on.”