Italy 22 Scotland 19
AS THE CLOCK ticked towards 80 minutes it was fitting that Sergio Parisse was the man at the back of the Italian maul as it rolled towards the Scottish line.
The Italian captain was heroic in the final stages and although his pack didn’t reach the line, George Clancy judged they were illegally pulled down and awarded a penalty try and with it, a 22-19 win to the visitors.
That result would have been impossible to predict after the opening few minutes.
The expected backlash from Scotland to their two opening losses came early as they raced into a double-digit lead but the visitors struck back despite some poor kicking from their out-half Kelly Haimona.
Scotland had the perfect start after Italy were penalised for coming in from the side in the first minute and captain Greig Laidlaw put them three points ahead.
Moments later it got even better when centre Mark Bennett picked off Haimona’s errant pass to race home under the posts.
Italy responded excellently however as Josh Furno powered over from the back of a maul immediately but Haimona was off target with the conversion.
Scotland continued to threaten thereafter and won a penalty in front of the posts after Francesco Minto went off his feet after a Tommy Seymour break, with Laidlaw converting.
However just like after their try, Scotland coughed up a score instantly after they went offside from the kick-off, allowing Haimona to kick his first score in what seemed like a long, long time.
Laidlaw kicked another penalty before Italy scored their second try just before half time.
Haimona struck the post from a straightforward penalty but Scotland weren’t alert to the rebound and Giamba Venditti was on hand to catch the ball and muscle in under the posts.
The second half was a very poor affair with only one Laidlaw penalty on the board as the game entered its last few minutes.
But Scotland had Ben Tools sin-binned and after they collapsed a rampaging Italian maul en route to the tryline Clancy awarded the visitors the decisive score.
