Italy's Manuel Zuliani has warned that Scotland will "arrive with a knife between their teeth" ahead of their Six Nations opener on Saturday.

Though Scotland have won three of their last six Tests (L3), they suffered two agonising defeats against New Zealand and Argentina during their Autumn internationals.

Gregor Townsend's team are not among the favourites for the title in 2026 but are looking to improve on their back-to-back fourth-place finishes from the last two Six Nations tournaments.

Unfortunately for Italy, Scotland are known as fast starters, winning their opening match in seven of the last nine editions (L2), including the last five in a row.

And Zuliani is expecting a tough test at the Stadio Olimpico, though he hopes Italy can take confidence from their previous win over Scotland two years ago.

"They have a squad that has consolidated and confirmed its competitiveness," Zuliani told the Six Nations website.

"We had a great result against Scotland, and it was not a small one when it happened in Rome two years ago [31-29 win].

"We know they will definitely arrive with a knife between their teeth and will be confident that they can win. It's up to us to be able to counter this, nullify their strengths, and then make things difficult for them."

The Italian side that will take on Scotland this weekend! #GuinnessM6N #Since1883 pic.twitter.com/5gynzxNU1m

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Italy have won eight of their 26 matches against Scotland in the Six Nations (L18), as many as they have won against the four other nations combined (five v Wales, two v France, one v Ireland, 0 v England).

And though the Azzurri have won just one of their last 10 matches against Scotland at the tournament, that victory was the last time they hosted the fixture (2024), ending a run of 26 straight home defeats.

Italy also come into the contest on the back of a morale-boosting run of Autumn internationals, as they beat Australia and Chile. They also lost 32-14 to South Africa.

"You have to build confidence in this tournament game by game and also have the awareness that these are very tough matches," Zuliani, one of Italy's standout performers during the series, said.

"Let's hope they're very close matches, and we are able to compete with all the teams.

"November, with these two victories and a high-level performance, like the one against South Africa [in a 32-14 loss], has given us a lot of confidence and a sense of self-worth."