Logan celebrates the Scotland victory.

By Ian Laybourn, PA Sport

Scotland coach Ian McGeechan claimed his side should have made easier work of beating Italy in their RBS 6 Nations game at Murrayfield.

The Scots had played some entertaining rugby in the first half but, after a spirited Italian fight-back, McGeechan's men were hanging on in the end for a 33-25 victory.

However, the Scots coach insisted there were plenty of positives to be taken from the game.

He said: "I think we could have scored 20 more points in the first half because we had three or four good scoring opportunities.

"We picked a plan to attack and we were finding holes in their defence. We didn't have to force it and we were working in the areas where we wanted to go.

"That's what pleased me most about the game. In the second half we didn't play anything like that so it's all credit to the players for their defending.

"We spent a lot of the time without the ball and then we had to come back later on in the game but we shouldn't have to do that."

It took a second half try and conversion, followed by a late penalty by Chris Paterson to eventually finish off the dogged visitors and McGeechan was full of praise for the Edinburgh player.

He said: "Chris is one of the bigger players for us and it's great that we have found a front line goal-kicker who can play under pressure and still score points. It's nice to have something like that in our armoury."

Scotland captain Bryan Redpath also paid tribute to Paterson as he said: "Chris finished his second half try off exceptionally well and also his penalty after that.

"He's worked a lot on his kicking and he gave us the breathing space which we needed at that time."

Italy coach John Kirwan denied his side had blown an opportunity for victory despite having so much second half possession.

He said: "No, we never blew it. Scotland defended well but we made too many errors, especially in the last 20 minutes of the first half.

"The team played for 80 minutes and we're disappointed we didn't come away with a win but it was a good game of rugby.

"I believe it's been a good tournament for us and we have developed during it but we need to learn to win matches in these situation.

"Our objective was to win a game and to gain respect in the world of rugby and also to show that we are a side who can compete without giving away penalties.

"Before today's game we were the cleanest side in the tournament but there is still a lot of work to be done ahead of the World Cup."

Kirwan admitted he was not surprised by the Scots' tactics and paid tribute to McGeechan's side's fortitude.

He said: "They played pretty much the way we expected with passion, heart and in a physical way.

"But we knew if we could keep possession we could put them under pressure and get some tries today.

"But Scotland will be pleased with their win and they should be very proud of the way they played."

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