Rejuvenated Danielli raises Scotland spirit

Scotland 26 Italy 6

(DAVID MOIR/REUTERS)

It is 12 years now since Simon Danielli toured Australia as part of an England Schools' squad that also featured Steve Borthwick, Jonny Wilkinson and Iain Balshaw. It is 11 years since he bagged the last of England's nine tries in a 56-5 win against the Scots in an under-18s' international at Hughenden in Glasgow. It is in a Scotland shirt, though, that the Edinburgh-born, Cheltenham-raised, Oxford-educated Ulster wing of Italian heritage happens to be rolling back the years.

When the strapping 6ft 4in, 16st Danielli split the Italian defensive line with a piercing crash-ball run in the 35th minute of this hitherto slumbering Six Nations encounter, taking a fine inside pass from Graeme Morrison and speeding on an arc from the visitors' 10m line to the in-goal area, he sent the clock ticking back to the time when he was the next big thing in Scottish rugby. It was in a 2003 World Cup warm-up match against Italy at Murrayfield that he burst on to the senior international scene for the land of his birth, making a try-scoring debut.

The dashing Danielli plundered five tries in his first eight Tests for Scotland but the stunner he scored on Saturday was his first since England's visit to Murrayfield in 2004. After five years of injury frustration, at 29 the man who has traced his Italian ancestry back to a 17th century painter from Venice believes he has a renaissance in him yet. "I feel I've got more to give," he said. "I want to fulfil my potential because even though I'm in my late twenties I don't feel I've done that."

No less a judge of the game than Lawrence Bruno Nero Dallaglio, the son of a hotel manager from Turin, deemed Danielli to be man of the match material on Saturday. It was difficult to argue with the choice of the former England totem, although Sergio Parisse distinguished himself in what seemed at times like a one man band of an Italian team – not least with the 25-yard effort midway through the first-half with which the captain and No 8 followed Zinzan Brooke and Neil Back into the elite club of back rowers who have executed a drop goal on the international stage.

Danielli might have had a second try 15 minutes from time had he not lost control of the ball while attempting to touch down in the right corner while being dragged back by Luke McLean, Italy's Aussie-born fly-half. Scotland's right-wing also made a try-saving covering tackle on Alessandro Zanni, the Italian blindside flanker.

With Danielli in such splendid form, the Evans brothers a constant threat with ball in hand, and Euan Murray bolstering the pack (albeit with Allan Jacobsen, outstanding at loosehead prop on Saturday, requiring shoulder surgery later this week), Frank Hadden's side could yet get the second win they need to meet the Scottish Rugby Union's target for the Six Nations and to remove the doubts about the future of their head coach.

Certainly, Ireland will not be taking a victory for granted when they turn up at Murrayfield on the penultimate leg of their Grand Slam quest on Saturday week. Then again, Declan Kidney's men are sure to present more of a challenge than Nick Mallett's side mustered with this Italian P45 of a performance.>Scotland: Tries Danielli, Gray. Conversions Godman, Paterson. Penalties Paterson 3, Godman. Italy: Penalty McLean Drop goal Parisse.

Scotland: H Southwell (Edinburgh); S Danielli (Ulster), M Evans (Glasgow), G Morrison (Glasgow), T Evans (Glasgow); P Godman (Edinburgh), M Blair (Edinburgh, capt); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), E Murray (Northampton), J White (Sale), A Kellock (Glasgow), A Strokosch (Gloucester), J Barclay (Glasgow), S Taylor (Stade Fraincais). Replacements: C Paterson (Edinburgh) for Godman, 4-13, for Southwell, 47; D Hall (Glasgow) for Ford, 53; C Cusiter (Perpignan) for Blair, 56; S Gray (Northampton) for Barclay, 57; A Dickinson (Gloucester) for Jacobsen, 65, Jacobsen for Murray, 66; N de Luca (Edinburgh) for Morrison, 68; K Brown (Glasgow) for Jacossen, 68.

Italy: A Marcato (Treviso); Mir Bergamasco (Stade Francais), G Canale (Clermont Auvergne), G Garcia (Calvisano), M Pratichetti (Calvisano); L McLean (Calvisano), P Griffen (Calvisano); S Perugini (Toulouse), L Ghiraldini (Calvisano), M Castrogiovanni (Leicester), S Dellape (Toulon), M Bortolami (Gloucester), A Zanni (Calvisano), Mau Bergamasco (Stade Francais), S Parisse (Stade Francais, capt). Replacements: G Rubini (Overmach Parma) for Marcato, 47; P Canavosio (Viadana) for Griffen, 57; C del Fava (Ulster) for Dellape, 58; C Nieto (Gloucester) for Castrogiovanni, 60; F Sbaraglini (Treviso) for Ghiraldini, 60; J Sole (Viadana) for Bortolami, 77.

Referee: N Owens (Wales).

HT: 16-3

Att: 51,039