Parisse savours Azzurri revenge
Italy captain Sergio Parisse admitted revenge tasted extremely sweet after a last-gasp penalty try secured a dramatic Six Nations victory over Scotland at Murrayfield.
Twelve months ago Italian hearts were broken by a late Duncan Weir drop-goal in Rome, but this time it was the Azzurri who triumphed in the closing stages to secure only the second away Six Nations victory in their history.
And No.8 Parisse, who was controlling the driving maul in the final play that eventually secured the match-winning penalty try, could not hide his delight at the final whistle.
"It is special. It is fantastic for the team," he said.
"We lost last time in Rome with a last-minute drop-goal so we are really happy with the result and this victory will give some confidence for the team going into the next match in Rome.
"It was a great victory. We had a lot of young guys, especially in the backs and two uncapped boys in the group.
"We have done a lot of hard work in the week so I am really happy with the result."
Josh Furno crossed from a driving maul try in the first half before Giovanbattista Venditti also touched down for the Italians.
And while full-back Luke McLean secured the man of the match award, he was quick to pay tribute to the forwards for their effort in the victory.
"It has been a long couple of years with Italy," he said.
"We have had a couple of tough losses against Scotland in the last two years so it is good to get the other side of the result.
"Our forwards really set the platform today, we scored a try off a really good maul in the first half and full credit to them they came out and really stood up for us.
"A win is tough enough but to win away it is a good thing and we will look to the next two games at home and try and push on from there."
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