Italy skipper Sergio Parisse admits his side were simply outplayed by Scotland as they slipped to their third defeat of this year’s RBS 6 Nations Championship.
Having beaten their opponents at BT Murrayfield last term, Italy went into the contest on home soil full of confidence with captain Parisse particularly vocal in his optimism.
But John Barclay and John Hardie crossed early, before 21 points off the boot of Greig Laidlaw and a late Tommy Seymour score earned the visitors a 36-20 victory to avenge 2015’s reverse.
And Parisse, whose side face trips to Ireland and Wales in the final two rounds of the Championship, conceded Scotland were well worth their triumph.
“We lost because Scotland were better than us,” he said.
“They were more determined. We gave the Scots free ball which made it easier for them to play at speed, and in the first few minutes they scored two tries which was a disaster for us.
“It is true that we had more possession and more territory, but we have also lost the ball so easily very often.
“In the second half we managed to have more balls available. The team had a reaction when we came in down at half-time, but we could not find the try that would allow us to get back into the game.
“Unfortunately letting your opponents play too much for 20 minutes at the end of the game can be dangerous.
“We could definitely do better making different choices, but credit to the Scots’ defence.”
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