Scotland scrape into quarter-finals

Scotland 18 Italy 16

A flawless kicking display by Chris Paterson secured Scotland a World Cup quarter-final place at the expense of Italy in a tense but scrappy Pool C eliminator in St Etienne.

The Gloucester utility back nailed six penalties out of six as the Scots squeezed home in a error-strewn game to reach the tournament’s last eight for the sixth successive occasion.

The Italians scored the game’s only try – through Alessandro Troncon – and had 11 points from the point of David Bortolussi, but the latter missed a late penalty effort which would have sent the Azzurri through.

Frank Hadden’s side will probably now play Argentina in Paris in the quarter-finals.