Scotland beat Italy 26-14 for their last match of the 6 Nations Tournament, but the XV du Thistle got scared at the end of the match.
Italy ends the 2023 Tournament of Nations with a small point… The Squadra Azzura did not go far from the hold-up in Scotland, but they finally lost 26-14 at Murrayfield, against the Scots who therefore conclude this Tournament with three wins and two losses. The suspense lasted until the 80th minute, with several chances to win on the wire for Italy, but Scotland finally scored on a school block. At the break, Scotland returned to the locker room leading 12-6 with two tries scored. It was Duhan van der Merwe who crossed the line first during this meeting, in the 13th minute.
After a scrum from 5m near the posts, the Scots turned the game to the left, until the winger who scored with a spectacular jump in the left corner, despite the return of Paolo Garbisi. Test validated by the video (5-3). Italy went ahead thanks to a second penalty from Tommaso Allan (5-6, 16th), but found themselves at fourteen at the half-hour mark following the yellow card received by Marco Riccioni for scrum fouls. A superiority which immediately benefited Scotland since on the following action, Ben White took the ball out of the scrum and passed it to Blair Kinghorn, who scored on the left of the posts (12-6).
A hat-trick for Kinghorn
The XV of Thistle added to the recovery, with a new test signed Kinghorn, after the game up close, where he managed to hit and find the fault (19-6). The Scots then thought maybe they were on their way to an easy victory, but that was not the case at all! Shortly after the hour mark, Italy managed to score their first try after a long game and a small kick from Garbisi in the closed side, on the left, for Allan who gave hope to his team (19-11). Garbisi added a penalty (19-14).
The Italians then pushed and created several chances near the try line. But just before the siren, Scotland collected one last round with a penalty under their own posts, and on a magnificent counter-attack, Duhan van der Merwe and Kinghorn raced up the pitch at full speed, and the fly-half d Edinburgh scored their third try of the afternoon and handed victory to their team. Even if they did not win the Tournament, these two teams have shown great progress in this 2023 edition. To be confirmed during the World Cup now!
