Last-minute penalty try clinches Italy’s first victory over Scotland in two years
Italy earned a last-minute penalty try to beat Scotland 22-19 at Murrayfield for their first Six Nations win in two years on Saturday.
Italy earned a last-minute penalty try to beat Scotland 22-19 at Murrayfield for their first Six Nations win in two years on Saturday.
Referee George Clancy awarded the try with less than 30 seconds left in regulation time after Scotland replacement flanker Hamish Watson was caught dragging down an Italy maul that was surging to the line.
Watson was also yellow-carded for the foul, joining replacement lock Ben Toolis, on debut, in the sin-bin. Toolis was carded only a minute earlier, as Scotland's composure folded under severe pressure from the Italians spanning the last eight minutes.
After Tommaso Allan added the routine conversion, Italy celebrated their deserved three-tries-to-one triumph. They hadn't won a Six Nations match since 2013, and this was only their second victory away from home.
The Scots looked like they might hold on. Captain Greig Laidlaw kicked his fourth penalty with 14 minutes to go. The first points of the second half extended the Scots' lead to 19-15, forcing Italy to forego penalty kicks and go for a winning try.
The pressure the Italians exerted was immense. They tried another lineout maul which earned them their first try in the first half. That earned them another penalty, so they kicked to the left corner for another lineout. Then the Italians had a scrum put-in. That was rucked close to the tryline, so they got a second scrum.
But when Scotland earned a penalty for Italy's front-row collapsing, the Scots' relief was palpable, and the capacity crowd roared.
But Peter Horne's kick to touch didn't go out, Italy received another penalty, and Scotland was back on the rack again. Another Italy lineout, and another scrum. Toolis exited, eight minutes after going on, and the cracks in Scotland's discipline finally shattered.
