Scotland have beaten Italy 17-0 in Rome to register their first Six Nations win of this year’s championship.
The pressure was on the visitors going into the match after two disappointing results and performances against Ireland and England.
The side didn’t get off to the best of starts with Adam Hastings missing an penalty and then Stuart Hogg having to make a last-gasp tackle on Jayden Hayward to prevent an setback.
Nerves were calmed after 23 minutes when Hogg raced 50 yards to score in the corner and put Scotland 5-0 ahead.
Seven minutes later it looked like a second try when Ali Price went over but TMO highlighted a forward pass from Hamish Watson in the build-up.
Italy had a chance to narrow the gap before the break but Tomasso Allan saw his penalty hit the post.
After the restart Jamie Ritchie was close to adding to the scoreline but was caught by Allan and Jake Polledri inches from the line. But minutes later Scotland did have a second try when the ball was fed wide to Chris Harris and the centre crossed to score. Hastings failed to convert.
George Horne replaced Ali Price while Matt Fagerson came on for Magnus Bradbury to freshen things up and minutes later Rory Hutchison was introduced for Harris as Scotland looked to add to their advantage.
Italy were stubborn and Scotland couldn’t find the edge needed to add to the score as the contest became scrappy.
Scotland’s persistence paid off right at the death with Adam Hastings scoring a converted try.
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