Edoardo Gori not rolling away at the breakdown after bringing down Duncan Taylor and Greig Laidlaw, from 42m out, adds three points to the scoreboard. 

Can Italy come back from here? 

Italy have missed eight tackles in the opening 20 minutes, while the Scots have missed just the one and that is one of the reasons why the visitors are ahead. 

Italy have put-in at the scrum in their own half - steady- and the Azzurri opt to spin it wide... Michele Campagnaro gathers speed and causes decibels to rise, but he's halted by Mark Bennett. 

Dodgy handling again from the hosts and their momentum dies a death. 

Ian Bradley: Finn Russell plays with huge variance, from sublime to woeful, high risk selection

Stephanie Latta: Scotland vs Italy is always a good game! Scotland need to keep this tempo up! More to come

This is not an occasions for the soft brained but David Odiete kicks the ball out on the full, gifting the visitors possession and territory. 

But the Scots miss the chance to turn the screw once more as Ross Ford is penalised for a wonky throw. A reprieve for Italy. 

Image source, Reuters

John Beattie
Former Scotland international on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

"Scotland are playing with a pace that we have not seen from them and it is an impressive tempo. Everyone has written them off but they are dominating this game so far."

Scotland have recovered from their early blip and are in the ascendancy.  A beautiful floated pass from Mark Bennett to Tommy Seymour but Italy's defence holds firm. No matter. The visitors retain possession... 

Italy's big men barge forward inch by inch, but Andrea Lovotti coughs up possession near the halfway line and Finn Russell puts in a grubber down the left flank, turning Italy's attack into defence. 

John Beattie
Former Scotland international on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

"A lot of that try is down to Cotter and the shape they play. You can see they have trust in their shape and faith in what they are trying to do."

Peter Wright
Former Scotland prop on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

"That was a stupid mistake by Finn Russell. An error that has really put Scotland on the back foot. They keep saying they are getting rid of these mistakes but there is no sign of that."

Cheeky. Kelly Haimona bisects the posts with a cute chip to give the hosts the lead. 

Oh my. Finn Russell misses a kick to touch and in a blink of an eye the Scots are 5m from their own tryline. Sloppy, messy, unnecessary. 

Ross Ford makes no mistake with the throw-in - through the phases they go, but John Barclay is penalised for not releasing which will give Kelly Haimona a chance to aim at the posts. 

Jenni: It's hard to think of many better sporting tournaments in world sport than the Six Nations. Pure passion, pride and power.

Keri Gibson: Come on Scotland. Let's have a great game! 

Keep your thoughts coming on #bbcsixnations, external

Scotland push and shove at the scrum, Italy backpedal - but the ball bobbles back towards Sergio Parisse. Forward the hosts go, racing down the left flank - but, again, iffy handling results in the opposition nicking the ball. It's been stop-start so far. The Scots will be pleased with that scrum, though. 

Scotland's scrum is solid under pressure, Greig Laidlaw spins it wide to the right from the scrum but Mark Bennett fumbles as he attempts to break loose from midfield. That'll be a put-in at the scrum for Italy. 

Jonny Gray firm under the high ball and the visitors show adventure from the get-go, running from their own 22 before Greig Laidlaw tests Italy's full-back David Odiete with the up-and-under. 

The Azzurri making a number of minor errors and it ends up being a Scottish put-in at the scrum on the halfway line.