Scotland beat Italy 36-20 in Rome on Saturday to end their nine-match losing run in the Six Nations.

It was the Scots' first victory in the competition since they triumphed 21-20 at the Stadio Olimpico in 2014.

Scotland led 17-3 after 26 minutes thanks to tries from flankers John Barclay and John Hardie, and two conversions and a penalty from captain Greig Laidlaw.

Italy hooker Leonardo Ghiraldini scored their first try on the half-hour mark, and when lock Marco Fuser went over in the 63rd minute the deficit was reduced to six.

But Laidlaw's boot – finishing with five penalty goals – and a late try from winger Tommy Seymour secured a comfortable win for the visitors.

Italy – Tries: Leonardo Ghiraldini, Marco Fuser. Conversions: Kelly Haimona (2). Penalties: Haimona (2).
Scotland – Tries: John Barclay, John Hardie, Tommy Seymour. Conversions: Greig Laidlaw (3). Penalties: Laidlaw (5).

Italy – 15 Daivid Odiete, 14 Leonardo Sarto, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mattia Bellini, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Alessandro Zanni, 6 Francesco Minto, 5 Joshua Furno, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Subs: 16 Davide Giazzon, 17 Matteo Zanusso, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Andries van Schalkwyk, 21 Guglielmo Palazzani, 22 Edoardo Padovani, 23 Andrea Pratichetti.

Scotland – 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Mark Bennett, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Greig Laidlaw (c), 8 David Denton, 7 John Hardie, 6 John Barclay, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 WP Nel, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Subs: 16 Stuart McInally, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Moray Low, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Cayne, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Sean Lamont.

Photo: Dan Mullan/Getty Images