Familiar faults return to haunt beleaguered Scotland

ANOTHER tough game for Scotland, another early collapse, another inspiring fightback and another disappointing denouement in which Frank Hadden's team were out-thought and out-played when the time came to secure the points.

This final Test match of Scotland's RBS Six Nations campaign was wholly different to that at Murrayfield last year when Italy grasped their first away win in the championship, and yet, paradoxically, there were real similarities in how the Scots managed to pass up the chance at victory and finish again with just one win in the tournament. Italy are a decent side, growing in confidence, against Scotland certainly, believing in their pack's ability to depower opponents, strengthening in mind and body and developing skills to match their innate ambition.

Yet despite the Scottish pack struggling in the scrum – Allan Jacobsen, the loosehead, being bored into and pummelled by Martin Castrogiovanni, the Leicester tighthead, throughout – the lineouts were good and the breakdown was contested well, and the forwards' ability to off-load in the first half pulled them back from the early loss of winger Simon Danielli, with a leg injury, and a penalty try to lead 17-10 at half-time when they seemed to be firmly in control.

Under a beating sun and spurred on by a voluble and passionate Italian support, the home players were hugely physical all over the pitch.

Italy were led superbly by the towering forwards Sergio Parisse, the captain, and former skipper Marco Bortolami, both of whom showed their team-mates the way with aggressive hits and off-the-ball scraps which further underlined to the visitors their level of confidence. Italy stand-off Andrea Masi was only marginally better than Dan Parks, and scrum-half Simon Picone was out-shone by the terrific Mike Blair, but their backs showed greater ambition in attacking from deep and chipping and collecting kicks over the Scottish back-line. And yet, against a good scrambling Scots defence, they only created one try themselves from the direct route of a scrum in those opening minutes.

There wasn't a lot of dynamic momentum generated in the first half, but Scotland kept ball efficiently to take play through phases and deeper into the Italian half. That sucked in defenders and, with patience, created the openings for tries from Allister Hogg, after fine work by Scott MacLeod, the lock, to off-load while being tackled into touch, and Blair. The Italian coaches bemoaned their defending afterwards, understandably as the Scotland skipper broke over a ruck and sprinted 15 metres to the posts to score on the stroke of half-time with hardly a finger being laid on him.

Scotland started the second period in the ascendency following the first-half pattern, Simon Taylor and Alasdair Strokosch, the man of the match, striving to provide leads, but now the line-out passes, reverse balls inside and tight attacks were being better defended and expected. So Parks had to look elsewhere and that was where Scotland's hopes died. If his intercepted passes took the game away from his side, he, sadly, did not have the kind of creative flair to then win it back.

After a gutsy kick-and-chase in the first half, which set up a lineout platform Scotland squandered, the fly-half caught out the Italian back-line, and no doubt Scots supporters, with a dummy and break in the second period. But summing up his day, his pass out of the tackle, which may have released Hogg for a second try, went to ground and forward.

Parks' misery was complete when, with Scotland putting phases together and threatening the Italian 22, his pass wide left was plucked from the air by Parisse, and the No8 sprinted to the Scots half. Being caught by Paterson, he threw a great pass inside which bounced nicely for Gonzalo Canale to run in at the posts.

That levelled the scores on the hour mark and after Andrea Marcato and Paterson swapped penalties it was the Italians who had the desire – fuelled by their fans – the skills and intelligence to dominate the final minutes. They worked their way into a scoring position, moved Scotland from left to right, drove at the line, and then gave Marcato the time and space to strike the match-winning drop-goal.

Parisse then secured the restart, the Italian pack hid the ball until the clock ticked past 80 minutes and gave it to Pietro Travagli to boot it into touch and consign Scotland to another Roman defeat.

Scorers: Italy: Tries: Penalty, Canale; Pens: Marcato 2; Cons: Marcato 2; DG: Marcato. Scotland: Tries: Hogg, Blair; Pens: Parks, Paterson; Cons: Paterson 2.

Italy: A Marcato; K Robertson, G Canale, M Bergamasco, E Galon; A Masi, S Picone; A Lo Cicero, L Ghiraldini, M Castrogiovanni, C Del Fava, M Bortolami, J Sole, S Parisse (capt), A Zanni. Subs: S Perugini for Lo Cicero 58mins, C Nieto for Castrogiovanni 59, P Travagli for Masi 60, E Patrizio for Picone 63, F Ongaro for Ghiraldini 70.

Scotland: H Southwell; S Danielli, S Webster, G Morrison, C Paterson; D Parks, M Blair (capt); A Jacobsen, F Thomson, E Murray, N Hines, S MacLeod, A Strokosch, S Taylor, A Hogg. Subs: A Henderson for Danielli 7mins, S Lawson for Thomson, J White for MacLeod, both 52, A Dickinson for Jacobsen, C Smith for Murray, both 58, K Brown for Hogg 72.