Henry Pyrgos scored a 74th-minute try to help Scotland beat Italy 16-12 in Turin on Saturday.

Italy will lament a late lapse on defence. Had they held their nerve for six more minutes, they would have claimed their second consecutive victory against Scotland in 2015.

The game was closely contested in the first 40. The half ended with the scores locked at 9-9. Italy flyhalf Tommy Allan then goaled a crucial penalty in the second stanza to take the hosts out to a 12-9 lead.

But Scotland continued to attack, and would find some space at a crucial moment in the game. Matt Scott broke the line, and fed reserve scrumhalf Henry Pyrgos.

Pyrgos crossed the tryline, and Duncan Weir's conversion stretched the visitors' lead to four with only a few minutes left to play. Scotland kept Italy out in the dying stages, and secured the victory.

Italy – Penalties: Gonzalo Garcia, Tommy Allan (3).
Scotland – Try: Henry Pyrgos. Conversion: Duncan Weir. Penalties: Weir (3).

Italy – 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Giovambattista Venditti, 10 Tommy Allan, 9 Guglielmo Palazzani, 8 Samuela Vunisa, 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Valerio Bernabo, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys (c), 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Davide Giazzon, 1 Matias Aguero.
Subs: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Michele Rizzo, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Mauro Bergamasco, 21 Marcello Violi, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Luke McLean.

Scotland – 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Richie Vernon, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Rory Hughes, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 Adam Ashe, 7 John Hardie, 6 Alasdair Strokosch, 5 Grant Gilchrist (c), 4 Richie Gray, 3 Mike Cusack, 2 Stuart McInally, 1 Gordon Reid.
Subs: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Jim Hamilton, 20 Hamish Watson, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Damien Hoyland.

Photo: Marco Bertorello/AFP Photo