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Rugby Union

Italy blitz Scotland for landmark win

24/02/2007

Italy recorded their first away win in Six Nations history with a 37-17 win over Scotland at Murrayfield.

The hosts never recovered after the Azzurri scored three early tries to race into a 21-0 lead inside the first seven minutes.

In the first minute Mauro Bergamasco charged down a chip ahead by Phil Goodman and reacted quickest to gather and dot the ball down under the posts.

Another breakaway score followed on four minutes as Chris Cusiter's attempted offload only found the grateful hands of Andrea Scanavacca who raced in before adding the extras from the tee.

After seven minutes the home defence was yet again turned on its heels as winger Kaine Robertson snaffled an ill-judged looping pass from Cusiter and strolled under the posts.

A try from Robert Dewey after 13 minutes gave a stunned home crowd hope that Frank Hadden's men might regain the initiative as quickly as they lost it, but Italy had learnt from their opponents' mistakes.

A disciplined defence restricted Scotland to just a Chris Paterson penalty before half time and there was little sign of any further generosity after the restart.

The hosts consistently turned down kicking opportunities in search of tries and it looked as if the bold approach might have paid off when Paterson sneaked through just after the hour for a try that made the score 24-17.

But Italy regained the upper hand and a couple of penalties from Scanavacca gave them plenty of breathing space before Alessandro Troncon's close-range try wrapped up a comprehensive victory four minutes from time.

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