“When we went 9-0 up I thought we could take this game by the scruff of the neck and control it but we didn’t do that”.
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“We found a way to win”.
Asked if he was dreading culling his current extended training squad down to the final 31, Cotter said: “Absolutely, it will be a very tough job to do”. “A lot of positives came out of it. Most of all we wanted a team performance”.
There was some early panic as the hosts and their heavyweight pack came back at Scotland with a series of powerful drives which were only halted by some last-gasp scrambling.
With Italy’s iconic captain Sergio Parisse sidelined with illness, Fiji-born Samuela Vunisa stepped into the No 8 position with Quintin Geldenhuys taking the captain’s armband for the Azzurri.
Italy head coach Jacques Brunel insists his side will be ready for next Saturday’s rematch at Murrayfield.
Garcia hit the upright with his first kick but was successful with his next attempt before Weir and then Italy’s Allan knocked over further penalties.
Five Scots made their debuts, including John Hardie, who has been the subject of intense scrutiny since arriving from New Zealand, particularly as he has not played a competitive match in the Northern Hemisphere and has yet to sign a contract with any club for next season.
Italy came agonisingly close to the opening try 10 minutes after the restart when prop Martin Castrogiovanni was held up with ball in hand after crossing the tryline.
A new half-back pairing of Sam Hidalgo-Clyne and Duncan Weir, who scored a late winning drop goal the last time the Scots played on Italian soil, leads a backline which includes a centre pairing of Matt Scott and Richie Vernon, with Edinburgh utility back Greig Tonks getting a run at full-back.
“We managed to get a try, but it could have gone either way”, Cotter added.
For Italy it was first outing since they were thumped by Wales in Rome on the final day of the Six Nations, and within the first few seconds it showed.
“It’s disappointing to lose a match where we had so much possession, about 70 per cent so that’s tough to take”.
In front of a home crowd, Cotter said he will be expecting a more constructive approach.
Cotter said: “The Irish game was an open, fairly fluid affair for the most part but I think the Italy game will be a tighter battle so we’ll be looking, perhaps, to play a bit differently”.
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“We will look at the game; there was information given to us out there regarding team performances and we need to dissect things”.
