Italy take the honours in Dundee mud

In difficult conditions,  with rain interspersed with snow, Italy repeated their win in March 2011 and are now level on points with Ireland at the top of the six Nations.

According to the Italians, the game in Dundee was a clash of styles. The Scots chose a power game, putting Italy under pressure, while Italy battled in defence, looking for any advantages that might come their way.

Italy's pack - lead by props Lucia Jha and Awa Coulibaly neutralised the Scots forward pressure and the attempts, while their "woman of the match"Manuela Furlan was at the centre of everything in the backlinewhen - despite the conditions - Scotland tried to move the ball wide at time.

On 20 minutes Scotland gave away a penlaty from an Italian lineout.Veronica Schiavon opted to kick from goal, even though she was thirty meters out and near the touchline. As last week in similar conditions in Roverto, the kick was accurate and put Italy 3-0 ahead.

Scotland continued on the attack, camping out in the Italian half, but Italy defended with care, keeping risks to a minimum, avoiding penalties where possible.

In the second half came decisive moment in the game. After a break byManuelaFurlan down the line, she kicked ahead into the end zone, and scrumhalf Sara Barattin won the footrace, touching down with a dive to give Italy a 8-0 lead. The rest of the game was a tale of continual Scottish pressure on the Italian line, but the visitors held out, resisting until the final whistle.

"We are top - that is what the ranking says!", said delighted Italian coach Angela Di Giandomenico. "Another victory. Now Wales - and the key game of the series. The key to victory today was consistency and continuity. Even when Scotland had all the possession, and were camped in our end, we did not give up. We could have perhaps closed out the game before in the two or three chances we created, but that's okay. We struggled but weleave the fieldwith a victory in our pocket. We cannot ask for more."

The result leaves Scotland firmly at the foot of the Six Nations table.

Head coach Karen Findlay said: “We must have had 60% or 70% of the possession but we had too many turnovers in their 22 which is a shame because so many aspects of our performance were significantly better than last week.We scrummed really well, our lineout was better and we had a hugely improved work rate but they scored a try completely against the run of play.”

Italy, on the other hand, are having their best season ever and not only lie second in the table after two rounds, but have also moved ahead of Wales in the battle for direct qualification for next year's World Cup:

(The best two Six Nations teams, based on 2012 and 2013 results (excluding France and England) qualify for the finals - the other two teams will have to play-off with four other teams in a final European eliminator in May, in Madrid).

Teams:

SCOTLAND: 15 Steph Johnston, 14 Lauren Harris (40 STEVENS), 13 Annabel Sergeant, 12 Lisa Ritchie (76 Neary) 11 Megan Gaffney, 10 Tanya Griffith, 9 Louise Dalgliesh (63 LAW), 8 Susie Brown, 7 Tess Forsberg, 6 Jade Konkel (63 LAFAIKI) 5 Bridget Millar-Mills, 4 Lindsay Wheeler, 3 Tracey Balmer (51 DICKENS) 2 Sarah Quick (63 LEOD MC); 1 Heather Lockhart (70 KERLIE).Replacements: 16 Beth Dickens, 17 Suzanne McKerlie-Hex, 18 Nikki McLeod, 19 Becca Parker, 20 Lafaiki Mary, 21 Sarah Law, 22 Leanne Neary, 23 Lauren Harris.

ITALY:15) Manuela FURLAN; 14) Michela SILLARI; 13) Maria Grazia CIOFFI; 12) Paola Zangirolami; 11) Chiara Castellarin, 10) Veronica SCHIAVON; 9) Sara Barattin; 8) Flavia SEVERIN (76 ARRIGHETTI) 7) Silvia GAUDINO; 6) Michela ESTE 5) Alice Trevisan, 4) Cristina MOLIC, 3) Lucia JHA; 2) Melissa BETTONI; 1) Awa COULIBALY.Replacements: 16) Debora BALLARINI; 17) Sara ZANON; 18) Marta Ferrari, 19) Ilaria ARRIGHETTI; 20) Giuliana CAMPANELLA; 21) Vanessa Chindamo, 22) Michela Tondinelli; 23) Sofia STEFAN.

Scorers: 20 min Schiavon (pen)., 48 min Barattin (try).Referee: Sherry TRUMBULL (Canada)Notes: Rainy weather.Temperature - 2 degrees.500 spectators.