Portugal Colonial - Skipper Lamaro urges Italy calm for Scotland Six Nations test

Italy went within centimetres of beating France in Lille last time out, when Paolo Garbisi's last-gasp penalty striking the post meant the Azzurri drew a thrilling match 13-13.

That was another promising display which has fans optimistic for Saturday's clash at the Stadio Olimpico, where Italy will try to win at home in the Six Nations for the first time since 2013 and lift themselves off the bottom of the table.

"Yes we drew with France but we mustn't forget that the week before we ended up flat on our faces after conceding 37 points against Ireland without reply," skipper Lamaro told reporters.

"I think we're going in the right direction. We're slowly getting better and we have more chance of winning a match now than we did two years ago, or last year.

"We had the same conversation before the Wales match last season (a 29-17 home defeat) but afterwards we realised that there were still lots of things that we can do better.

"A mental switch has happened but it's not something that happens overnight... We have to try not to get ahead of ourselves because every time we do that, think we're ready to take that next step, we alway end up flat on our faces."

Scotland are second in the standings and have an outside chance of winning the title with two games remaining, although they would need England to do them a favour against reigning champions and leaders Ireland.

Scotland trail Ireland by six points and should results go their way on Saturday they will have a final-day title showdown in Dublin next weekend.

"The fact is that Scotland are one of the best teams in the world... they're good to watch and hard to defend against," said Lamaro.

"We need to be execute well what we need to do defensively while still attacking. That's not going to be easy. But we know that if we play our best we can be competitive."

Italy's final match of this year's tournament is against Wales in Cardiff, where both teams could be battling to avoid the wooden spoon.

P.Cavaco--PC