Scotland finished their Six Nations campaign on a high with a 29-0 bonus-point win against Italy at Murrayfield on Saturday.
The hosts scored four tries, two in each half, to move to second place on the log, with final-round matches in Paris and Dublin still to come.
It was a dominant performance from Scotland, who recorded their biggest ever win against the Italians.
An early penalty from Stuart Hogg gave the hosts a 3-0 lead, but they had to wait until the 28th minute to add to their tally. Alex Dunbar sucked in a couple of defenders, before quick ball saw Ali Price find Finn Russell, who ran a sharp angle to breach the defence.
Scotland struck again three minutes before the break after kicking a penalty to touch. Jonny Gray won the lineout, and Price’s box kick was tapped back by Hogg in the in-goal area. Matt Scott fell on the loose ball to make it 15-0.
Italy may have still been in touch with their opponents at half-time had Carlo Canna not missed with all three of his penalty attempts.
Scotland lost captain John Barclay to a yellow card in the 49th minute after he collapsed a maul, but it wouldn’t cost his team any points. No sooner had he returned to the field than Tim Visser scored the hosts’ third try, winning the race to the ball following a chip kick over the defence by Hogg.
Scotland then secured the bonus point in the 72nd minute, when quick hands from Price, Russell and Hogg saw Tommy Seymour stroll over from 10m out.
Scotland – Tries: Finn Russell, Matt Scott, Tim Visser, Tommy Seymour. Conversions: Russell (3). Penalty: Stuart Hogg.
Scotland – 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Ryan Wilson, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 John Barclay (c), 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Grant Gilchrist, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Gordon Reid.
Subs: 16 Fraser Brown, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Simon Berghan, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 Henry Pyrgos, 22 Duncan Weir, 23 Matt Scott.
Italy – 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 12 Luke McLean, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Carlo Canna, 9 Edoardo Gori, 8 Sergio Parisse (c), 7 Abraham Steyn, 6 Maxime Mata Mbanda, 5 George Biagi, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Ornel Gega, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Subs: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Sami Panico, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Andries van Schalkwyk, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Francesco Minto, 22 Marcello Violi, 23 Luca Sperandio.
Photo: Andy Buchanan/AFP Photo
