Coach Nick Mallett said he was unconcerned about finishing last in his maiden Six Nations after Italy edged a 23-20 win over Scotland on Saturday.
“No, it (the wooden spoon) does not bother me at all,” Mallett told a news conference following his first win with the Azzurri.
“We managed to sneak a win today. If we’d played with the southern hemisphere system, where you get a point for finishing within seven points of the opponent, we’d have finished ahead of Scotland.
“This competition is to win and if you don’t win it, it is to see how you can improve your rugby. Notwithstanding some disappointments, the team did very well.”
He admitted Italy were fortunate in the second half when captain Sergio Parisse managed to intercept a Dan Parks pass and set up Gonzalo Canale’s match-turning try.
Mallett added that he did not consider the victory to be Italy’s finest performance of the championship.
“I’m happy about the win, but for me Italy’s best match was (the 25-13 defeat) against France,” he said, referring to their previous game in Paris.
“It was very important to see the players’ reaction after losing (47-8) to Wales,” he added of their second match.
“We were a little lucky today, with the interception, but in four games (out of five) we did a good job.”
The former Springboks boss also admitted to being moved to tears by the victory.
“We won with heart and team spirit and that is very important for the coaching staff.
“The players never stopped working over the five games and I was very emotional about winning.”
Scotland coach Frank Hadden praised the way his side worked their way back into the game after difficult start.
“We lost winger Simon Danielli to injury after five minutes and went down to a penalty try after 10 minutes and I thought the side showed incredible character to recover from these situations,” Hadden said.
“There was a remarkable strength of will that managed to get them to a situation where, not only did we dominate and control the game, but had we scored some of the opportunities we created in the second half, we could have recorded our best ever performance in Italy. Sadly it was not to be.”
Hadden was upbeat about Scotland’s future despite having won only one match, against England in the Calcutta Cup last week.
“I have a lot of optimism for this side. In this championship we’ve blooded a significant number of young players who have outstanding futures ahead of them.”
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