Italy Women secured fourth place in the Women’s Six Nations table with a bonus-point 26-12 win over Scotland in the rain in Padua.
At a sodden Stadio Plebiscito, the Azzurre took the lead in just the third minute, and from there they did not look back.
Leading 19-0 at the break, they wrapped up the bonus point three minutes into the second period although they then had to withstand a Scottish fightback as the visitors ran in two tries.
But in the end Italy were able to see out the win, and finish the campaign in fourth place, level on points with Ireland in third after two successive bonus-point successes.
Hooker Melissa Bettoni had got Italy onto the board with a score from close range after three minutes, Michela Sillari converting.
And the Italians showed their quick hands to cross again on ten minutes when the ball was spread wide to the left for Sofia Stefan to cross.
Hannah Smith made a couple of scything breaks for Scotland, but they could not turn territory into points, and instead Stefan almost had a second after a sensational counter-attack.
That was ruled out for a final forward pass by Sillari, but the Azzurre had a second through Giada Franco, Manuela Furlan setting her up as she cut through off the back of a scrum. Sillari’s conversion made it 19-0.
They started the second half with a fourth try of the game, Beatrice Rigoni the player to finish this time after being sent through by Stefan, as Sillari converted once again.
The rain was pouring down by this stage, with the players caked in mud, but despite the increasingly difficult handling conditions, Scotland mounted a fightback.
First Lana Skeldon scored her first Test try from close range, picking and driving her way over, and soon after replacement Eilidh Sinclair dived over for their second, with hooker Skeldon converting the second of the two to cut the deficit to 26-12.
But that was all they could manage, with Italy regaining some of the momentum as they much of the final minutes in Scottish territory.
