Scotland look solid in victory against Italy in Rome

Italy 20 Scotland 36

Scotland claimed their first RBS 6 Nations win in two years as they beat Italy 36-20 in Rome.

The visitors showed kind of killer instinct they have lacked so far this campaign as John Barclay and John Hardie both crossed over inside the opening 17 minutes.

The hosts at the Stadio Olimpico hit back through Leonardo Ghiraldini and Marco Fuser either side of half-time but the dependable boot of skipper Greig Laidlaw kept Scotland ahead.

They were made to sweat in the final stages as both Finn Russell and WP Nel were yellow-carded, but the celebrations were finally able to begin two minutes from time when Tommy Seymour scored the Dark Blues' decisive third try.

The Scottish pack looked solid in the opening scrum exchanges but Finn Russell failed to capitalise on their good work early on when he failed to find touch from a free-kick. That let-off allowed Haimona to put early pressure on the visitors as he nailed a 40-yard penalty after nine minutes.

But the Scottish response was both immediate and emphatic. Wing Tim Visser - in for his first start of the tournament after shaking off hamstring trouble - slipped the ball wide to full-back Stuart Hogg, whose dancing feet took him to within five yards of the Azzurri line before Haimona hauled him down.

The Glasgow man remained switched on, though, popping the ball off to John Barclay as the flanker

arrived like a steam train to dot down the opening score, converted by skipper Greig Laidlaw.

Video from RBS 6 Nations

They had a second try after 17 minutes when Russell made up for his earlier slip as he broke past three tackles to again take Scotland to with scoring range. From the ruck, the Dark Blues moved the ball quickly out to Wilson and then to John Hardie, who dived over in the same corner as the first try. Again Laidlaw added the extras.

Scotland were finally showing the kind of lethal touch they have claimed they were ready to unleash since their encouraging World Cup display as they swarmed over the hosts.

Their early dominance was underlined as Laidlaw added another three points with a penalty.

Try! Italy with some great link up play to earn their first try of the day. ITA 10-17 SCO. #RBS6Nations pic.twitter.com/7xSbOGMgtV

— Guinness Men's Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 27, 2016

But Italy were not ready to go down without a fight and they cut the deficit 30 minutes in when centre Conzalo Garcia and full-back David Odiete powered through some weak Scottish defence before releasing Leonardo Ghiraldini to score, with Haimona converting.

Laidlaw missed the chance to nudge Scotland further ahead before the break though when he tugged a stoppage-time attempt at the posts.

Intro: Scotland put themselves on course for their first RBS 6 Nations win in two years after claiming a 17-10 half-time lead over Italy in Rome

The visitors showed the kind of killer instinct they have lacked so far this campaign as John Barclay and John Hardie both crossed inside the opening 17 minutes.

But the hosts at the Stadio Olimpico hit back on the half-hour mark as hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini scored to slash Scotland's advantage.

The scrum-half made amends five minutes after the interval as he slotted over a straightforward effort from 30 yards out.

The Italians came again though as they applied phase after phase of pressure on top of the Scottish line. In the end, though, they had to settle for another Haimona penalty as the Scots' scramble defence held out.

Laidlaw put over yet another penalty but Italy should have responded with a second try when Edoardo Gori knocked on with just Hogg to beat.

Scotland's second-half scoring rate has been worryingly poor of late but Laidlaw kept his side's tally ticking over with his fourth penalty of the afternoon.

Italy skipper Sergio Parisse did his best to inject some impetus into his team's display with a daring 20-yard break but was left frustrated as his team-mates failed to follow up.

The Azzurri were given a boost as Russell was sin-binned after 62 minutes for illegally handling in a ruck as Scotland were pushed back onto their own line.

And it took Italy just a minute to make their numerical advantage count as Marco Fuser squeezed the ball over the line from another forwards drive, beating WP Nel's best efforts at holding the flanker up. Haimona converted again.

But again Laidlaw took the wind out of Italian sails with another penalty, ignoring the home supporters' boos to fire over.

Tempers flared more than once in the final 10 minutes as Italy scrapped for a way back into the contest. Russell returned but Scotland were soon a man down again as Nel was shown yellow for a deliberate knocked-on intercept.

However, they sealed the win they so badly craved two minutes from time as Hogg laid off for Seymour to score with a delicious offload, leaving it to captain Laidlaw to put the finishing touch on victory with the conversion.