Last-gasp penalty sees Scotland survive scare to edge Italy

ROME: Scotland narrowly avoided a nightmare end to their Six Nations campaign yesterday, beating Italy 29-27 with a Greg Laidlaw penalty a minute from time after trailing the perennial wooden-spooners for most of the game.

Scotland scored four tries before snatching victory from the distraught Italians but the result could well have gone the other way, with an expectant home crowd of 60 000 on the verge of celebrating a first Six Nations victory in three years.

Scotland broke the Azzurri’s resistance in the final 10 minutes with a try by fullback Stuart Hogg and the deciding penalty by scrumhalf Laidlaw, whose kick drove the stake into Italian hearts.

The visitors had already scored three tries through hooker Fraser Brown, captain John Barclay and winger Sean Maitland, but they were well off the form that carried them to victory against England three weeks ago, dropping balls and conceding penalties.

Italy, who last won a Six Nations game against Scotland in 2015 in Rome, led for about an hour, steered by 24-year-old fly-half Tommaso Allan, the man of the match who scored two tries and set up a third for fullback Matteo Minozzi.

“I am destroyed for them, the players,” Italy’s Irish coach Conor O’shea said, attributing the loss to a lack of experience required to close out the game.

“Boy, we played some rugby out there today.”

Scotland have finished in the top three only three times since Italy joined the competition in 2000 but their win in Rome could get them third place after they ended their campaign with 13 points.

Italy were already guaranteed to finish last for the 13th time since their first Six Nations. Their string of 17 straight defeats in the competition equals the worst losing streak in the tournament since France racked up 17 losses a century ago between 1911 and 1920. – Reuters