Andrea Marcato’s late drop-goal secured a first 2008 Six Nations victory for Italy at the expense of Scotland.

Scotland led 17-10 at half-time after converted tries from Allister Hogg and Mike Blair cancelled out an early penalty try for Italy.

Gonzalo Canale’s score from Sergio Parisse’s interception levelled for Italy to set up a thrilling finish.

After a penalty apiece, Marcato struck at the death but Scotland avoided the Wooden Spoon on points difference.

Scotland started nervously with Italy dominating the early exchanges through a combination of a solid scrum and the willingness to run the ball out of trouble.

Italy’s first opportunity of points came courtesy of a weak Scottish scrum. The ball spilled out to Italian scrum-half Simon Picone, who kicked on and collected, only for Andrea Masi to waste the opportunity with a poor pass.

But just a minute later another Scottish scrum felt the full force of the Italian front-row and prop Euan Murray was penalised for bringing down his opposite number.

Marcato missed the penalty but made no mistake with a conversion five minutes later after Italy’s first try of the game.

Scotland were penalised at a scrum, Italy opted to pack down again and the second time the visitors offended, referee Nigel Owens awarded the penalty try.

To their credit, Scotland hit back on 20 minutes through Hogg.

Andrew Henderson looked to have wasted a glorious opportunity to cross in the corner when he slipped with only Picone to beat. But the ball was recycled and quick Scottish hands out wide put in Hogg.

Chris Paterson sent over the conversion but passed on the kicking duties to Dan Parks a few minutes later for a long-range penalty which the Glasgow man landed.

Marcato levelled the score with another effort from distance but in half-time injury time Blair rounded off a fine first period when he picked up a loose ball in midfield to dive under the posts unchallenged.

Paterson converted to send Scotland into the break with a seven-point lead but Italy levelled the score on the hour mark after a cagey start to the second period.

Parisse intercepted Parks’s loose pass and sprinted almost the length of the pitch before passing inside to Canale to dive over.

Marcato sent over the extras as the Stadio Flaminio crowd sensed a first 2008 Six Nations victory.

The try not only galvanised the fans but it also reignited the Italian challenge as they went in search of the lead.

Italy went ahead through the boot of Marcato with 10 minutes remaining after Scotland had been penalised for offside.

But Paterson levelled with eight minutes to go to set up a grandstand finale in Rome.

Italy finished the stronger and worked Marcato into drop-goal position to seal the match with virtually the last kick of the game.

Despite the victory Italy still finished bottom of the table, but the fact mattered little to both players, management and supporters who celebrated jubilantly in Rome.

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Italy: Marcato, Robertson, Canale, Bergamasco, Galon, Masi, Picone, Lo Cicero, Ghiraldini, Castrogiovanni, del Fava, Bortolami, Sole, Zanni, Parisse.
Replacements: Travagli for Masi (61), Patrizio for Picone (63), Perugini for Lo Cicero (57), Ongaro for Ghiraldini (68), Nieto for Castrogiovanni (57). Not Used: Erasmus, Sgarbi.

Scotland: Southwell, Danielli, Webster, Morrison, Parks, Paterson, Blair, Jacobsen, Thomson, Murray, Hines, MacLeod, Strokosch, Hogg, Taylor.
Replacements: Henderson for Danielli (6), R. Lawson for Thomson (53), Smith for Murray (58), White for MacLeod (53), Brown for Hogg (71). Not Used: S. Lawson, Dickinson

Dan Parks returns at stand-off for Scotland’s final RBS Six Nations match in Italy following Nikki Walker’s withdrawal with an ankle injury.

 
Coach Frank Hadden has decided to move Chris Paterson, who started at 10 against Ireland and England, to wing.Centre Andrew Henderson comes onto the bench, while John Barclay and Ben Cairns also travelled to Rome.

Simon Danielli and Fergus Thomson were called up initially to replace injured duo Rory Lamont and Ross Ford.

Jason White, who began the campaign as captain, was again named among the replacements after the win over England.

And Sale hooker Scott Lawson was promoted to the bench to provide cover for Thomson.

Danielli will win his 15th cap, having appeared as a substitute against Wales earlier in the championship.

Hadden said: “Simon Danielli has played consistently well for some time now and I had no hesitation in giving him the chance to restart his international career.”

Thomson, who was a first-half replacement for Ford at the weekend, will be making his first start having previously featured seven times as a replacement.

“Fergus Thomson played really well when he came on against England,” added Hadden.

“He took his opportunity with both hands and thoroughly deserves his first start.”

Hadden is looking to build on the 15-9 victory against England, while Italy are without a win so far.

“Saturday was another indication of the progress we feel we have made,” said Hadden.

“After a very poor start to the Championship it’s vital we maintain that progression this weekend against a side that will represent a formidable challenge.”

Hadden had retained the five-two split between forwards and backs among the substitutes.

He explained: “We felt the impact made by the forward substitutes in the Calcutta Cup had a bearing on the outcome.

“We believe this is the right way to approach this game as well.”

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Scotland: Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh), Simon Danielli (Ulster), Simon Webster (Edinburgh), Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), Chris Paterson (Gloucester); Dan Parks (Glasgow), Mike Blair (Edinburgh, capt); Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh), Fergus Thomson (Glasgow), Euan Murray (Northampton), Nathan Hines (Perpignan), Scott MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester), Allister Hogg (Edinburgh),Simon Taylor (Stade Francais)
Substitutes: Scott Lawson (Sale), Alasdair Dickinson (Gloucester), Craig Smith (Edinburgh), Jason White (Sale), Kelly Brown (Glasgow), Rory Lawson (Gloucester), Andrew Henderson (Glasgow Warriors).

Italy coach Nick Mallett has named an unchanged team and bench for their final RBS Six Nations clash with Scotland in Rome on Saturday (1300GMT).Prop Martin Castrogiovanni has been included despite being forced off with a shoulder injury after scoring his side’s only try against France.

Andrea Masi remains at fly-half, despite concerns over the quality of his kicking game.

Italy must beat Scotland by five points or more to avoid the Wooden Spoon.

The Azzurri have beaten the Scots twice in their four previous Six Nations meetings in Rome, in 2000 and 2004, and also at Murrayfield last year.

But Scotland won 13-10 on their last visit to Rome two years ago, and also edged out Italy 18-16 in their World Cup pool match last November.

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Italy: Andrea Marcato, Kaine Robertson, Gonzalo Canale, Mirco Bergamasco, Ezio Galon; Andrea Masi, Simon Picone; Andrea Lo Cicero, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Martin Castrogiovanni, Carlo Del Fava, Marco Bortolami, Josh Sole, Alessandro Zanni, Sergio Parisse (capt).
Replacements: Fabio Ongaro, Carlos Nieto, Salvatore Perugini, Jacobus Erasmus, Pietro Travagli, Enrico Patrizio, Alberto Sgarbi.

Italy have called up uncapped number eight Jacobus Erasmus to their 22-man squad for the RBS Six Nations clash with France on 9 March. But key forwards Mauro Bergamasco and Carlo del Fava have been left out, with both players attending disciplinary hearings on Wednesday.

David Bortolussi and Pablo Canavosio are still out with injury, but winger Kaine Robertson returns to the set-up.

The Azzurri are still seeking their first win of the tournament.

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Italy squad:

Mirco Bergamasco (Stade Francais), G Canale (Clermont-Auvergne), E Galon (Overmach Cariparma), A Masi (Biarritz), K Robertson (Arix Viadana), A Marcato (Treviso), S Picone (Treviso), A Sgarbi (Treviso), E Patrizio (Petrarca Padova), J Erasmus (Montepaschi Viadana), A Galante (Rolly Gran Parma), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester), L Ghiraldini (Calvisano), A Lo Cicero (Racing Metro Paris), S Parisse (Stade Francais), F Ongaro (Saracens), S Perugini (Toulouse), J Sole (Arix Viadana), A Zanni (Calvisano), M Bortolami (Gloucester), C Nieto (Gloucester), P Travagli (Overmach Cariparma)

Unbeaten Wales cranked up their Grand Slam charge as they romped to a record Six Nations victory over Italy.

Warren Gatland’s revolution continued as Wales put Italy to the sword in Cardiff to set up a potential Triple Crown decider in Ireland in two weeks.

Lee Byrne and Shane Williams both scored twice while Tom Shanklin crowned his 50th Welsh cap with a try.

Stephen Jones enjoyed a 100% record with the boot as he kicked 20 points to guide Wales to a stunning win.

New coach Gatland, enjoying his first Six Nations campaign, inspired Wales to their third successive triumph as his men followed up victories against England and Scotland in style.

The Welsh had previously been guilty of starting slowly but showed instant intent against Italy at the Millennium Stadium as Jones landed two penalties in the opening 10 minutes.

Jones was slightly dazed for his third minute strike as Italian giant Carlo del Fava had cracked the Scarlets star in the head with his knee just as Peel was taken out by the offside Santiago Dellape.

But experienced Jones, replacing fly-half sensation James Hook, made no mistake as Wales capitalised on Italian errors.
 
Yet it was slack Welsh play that gifted Italy the first try of the afternoon after 12 minutes.

Matthew Rees’s line-out throw just 10 metres from his own line was far too long for Ian Gough and Martin Castrogiovanni punished the hosts as the Leicester prop bulldozed his way over for a surprise score.

Gonzalo Canale should have added to Wales’ woe just minutes later but after the Italian backline had cut the hosts’ defence to shreds, but the centre couldn’t do justice to a sublime move.

Great inter-play between Andrea Masi and Ezio Galon created the opening but after Masi set him free, Clermont Auvergne star Canale let the ball slip through his fingers with the try line at his mercy.

And Wales made the visitors pay as within five minutes as after sustained pressure, a long Gavin Henson pass released Byrne to score in the corner.

As the Ospreys full-back celebrated his second try of the Championship, Jones smashed over a tricky touchline conversion.

Andrea Marcato, a controversial selection to replace the injured David Bortolussi, had hit the upright with his first two kicks at goal, a conversion and a penalty.
 
But on the stroke of half-time, the Italian full-back gave Nick Mallett’s side what proved to be false hope with a penalty to reduce their deficit to five points.

But within 60 seconds of the break, Italy’s good first-half work was blown apart by one of their own.

Fly-half Andrea Masi was the enemy within as his blind looping pass was intercepted by Shanklin.

The Blues centre gratefully accepted the gift and celebrated his half century of caps with arguably the easiest try of his international career.

Mike Phillips, on for the injured Dwayne Peel, should have helped Wales extend their lead still further.

But the replacement scrum-half failed to offload the ball quick enough to the supporting Mark Jones, who would have cruised over.

Wales were starting to turn the screw and their intense pressure earned Jones another two kicks at goal, despatching both, the latter after Mirco Bergamasco was sin-binned for slowing the ball down at a ruck.

Coach Gatland’s decision to pick master Jones ahead of pupil Hook proved an astute decision, the Scarlets fly-half revelling in his 68th cap.

Jones’ deft pass released Williams for his third touchdown in two games before Jones added the extras with the boot.

Wales punished another Italian mistake with 12 minutes remaining as Ospreys full-back Byrne claimed his second try.

Williams put the icing on the cake as the Ospreys winger danced over for his 39th Wales try, closing to within one of Gareth Thomas’ record of 40 tries.

Hook had replaced the faultless Jones and his late two conversions secured the first Welsh victory over the Italians since Wales’ last Grand Slam triumph in 2005.
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Wales: Byrne, M Jones, Shanklin, Henson, S Williams, S Jones, Peel, Jenkins, Rees, R Thomas, Gough, Evans, J Thomas, M Williams, R Jones.
Replacements: Phillips for Peel (44), Bennett for Rees (55), Hook for S Jones (68), Du Jones for R Thomas (68), De Jones for Evans (68), Delve for M Williams (70), Parker for Henson (71).

Italy: Marcato, Sgarbi, Canale, Mi Bergamasco, Galon, Masi, Picone, Perugini, Ghiraldini, Castrogiovanni, Dellape, Del Fava, Sole, Ma Bergamasco, Parisse.
Replacements: Lo Cicero for Perugini (50), Bortolami for Dellape (50), Buso for Masi (54), Travagli for Picone (58), Zanni for Sole (61), Festuccia for Ghiraldini (70).
Not Used: Patrizio.