FIRST HALF - Italy started well, with all 15 players seeing plenty of the ball as promised by Mallett. They showed they were not afraid to go wide and, following a missed penalty attempt by Marcato, Robertson made the first break-through on 12 minutes. He set off on a run from 50 metres out, passed a couple of opponents with a kick-and-chase to the corner then won a five-metre scrum with some help from Canale and Mirco Bergamasco. The rest was almost a foregone conclusion: the Italian pack produced an almighty shove and the referee blew for a penalty try. It was the first time Italy had been ahead in the entire Six Nations. Parisse was putting in a towering performance but there more communication problems between Picone and Masi, perhaps through fear of making a mistake. Scotland slowly started to take control of the game and levelled in the 20th minute following a prolonged period of possession that was finished off by Hogg as the home defence went AWOL. Now the hosts were struggling and a Parks penalty from 46 metres sent them behind. Marcato responded (10-10), but in first-half time added on the Scots sliced through once again: the Italians fell asleep at a ruck, Blair gathered the loose ball and ran through to score unchallenged. Paterson converted to give his side a 10-17 half time lead.

SECOND HALF - The Scots started to slow matters down, Marcato missed another penalty and the game began to get ragged. The front rows changed but not the play, until 20 minutes into the half Parisse intercepted a pass on his own thirty-metre line and galloped off down the pitch, running 50 metres before his good friend Canale arrived in support. There was a hint of a forward pass but play continued and Canale made no mistake, touching down between the uprights: 17-17. The home side looked weary, but were not about to give up now. Travagli came on for Picone and, more significantly, Patrizio replaced Masi and went on to the wing, while Galon moved to full-back and Marcato took over at fly-half. Suddenly, things looked steadier and it was not long before Marcato took the Azzurri back into the lead (20-17). The dream lasted all of two minutes: Paterson, a kicking machine with 33 consecutive successes made it 34 to level again. The tension was unbearable. With just seconds to go, after a period of forward play, Travagli found Marcato in a bit of space 25 metres out. There was only one possible option and Marcato took it, sending the ball straight and true as the crowd held their breath. The stadium erupted, the glory was Italy's and the players set off on a lap of honour. Castrogiovanni even showed his elation by doing a striptease in front of the fans...

Italy-Scotland 23-20 (10-17) SCORERS: First half: 12 mins penalty try Italy, conv. Marcato; 20 mins try Hogg, conv. Paterson; 25 mins penalty Parks; 36 mins penalty Marcato; 41 mins try Blair, conv. Paterson; Second half: 20 mins try Canale, conv. Marcato; 30 mins penalty Marcato; 32 mins penalty Paterson; 39 mins drop-goal Marcato. ITALY: Marcato; Robertson, Canale, Mi. Bergamasco, Galon; Masi (Travagli, 61), Picone (Patrizio, 63); Parisse (capt.), Zanni, Sole; Bortolami, Del Fava (Erasmus, 47-53); Castrogiovanni (Nieto, 57), Ghiraldini (Ongaro, 68), Lo Cicero (Perugini, 67). Coach: Mallett. SCOTLAND: Southwell; Danielli (Henderson, 6), Webster, Morrison, Paterson; Parks, Blair (capt.); Taylor, Hogg (K. Brown, 70), Stokosch; MacLeaod (White, 52), Hines; Murray (C. Smith, 57), Thomson (S. Lawson, 52), Jacobsen (Dickinson, 57). Coach: Hadden. REFEREE: Owens (Wales). NOTE: Spectators: 30,000 Yellow cards: none. Kicking: Marcato 4 out of 6 (10 points); Paterson 3 out of 3 (7 points), Parks 1 out of 1 (3 points). Man of the match: Stokosch.

gazzetta.it