Scotland have been punished repeatedly for failure to capitalise on their dominant spells before being caught by a sucker punch – but have gained admirers with their style of play.

But Jacobsen – despite some often exciting rugby from his team – is irritated with the problems which have led to Scotland’s lack of points this campaign and is adamant the team will fight to iron them out

“There are things we need to work on that didn't go well last week,” the 33-year-old said.

“But we keep saying the same things and I find it quite embarrassing.

“We just need to get the next game right and the boys are working hard on making sure we do.

“If we get our game right, I think we can beat anyone. We've proved that over the past few years. The thing is that we don't do it often enough.”

Scotland and Italy have a close record since the Championship switched to its modern format in 2000 with the Scots shaving the head-to-head record with seven wins to five.

However, since Scotland’s last win in Rome in 2006, Italy have won three out of five and Jacobsen concedes his pack are crucial if they are going to front up to the physicality of the Azzurri.

“Against a team like Italy, the scrum's a massive part of their game - very physical, very passionate, they take you on up front,” the Edinburgh player explained.

“In my experience, most of the games I've played for Scotland, when we've not fronted up and done well in the scrum and line-out drives, we've lost.

“When we have done it well, the majority of times we've won.

“If I'm honest, I think Italy target us. They see us as a target and a game they can really win.

“You could argue that maybe they raise their game to play us. They are improving every year. This year they've played some great stuff.

“We're on a bit of a bad streak where we can't seem to get a win and we just need a win.”