Kirwan had hoped the match at Murrayfield would be the ideal stage for the Azzurri to claim their first-ever away victory in the tournaments history.

But his dreams were dashed as Scotland took advantage of their chances while Italy made several mistakes with the opportunities they created.

The game was a disappointment after we played well in the first half, said Kirwan.

But we missed some kicks and that was important in the end.

In the second half, I thought we could do better but Scotland changed their game and made it difficult for us.

We need to learn to be a stronger and a better team for 80 minutes and not just for 40 or 45 minutes.

Our game was not together in the second half and that was disappointing while Scotland had someone like Chris Paterson who missed nothing.

We tried to come back but it was too late.

The former All Black admitted the wooden spoon was a distinct possibility, adding: We have two games still to play and you dont know what can happen but we will have to be at our best to get something from this tournament.

Italys remaining games are against world champions England and defending RBS 6 Nations champions France.

Team manager Marco Bollesan was also frustrated by Italys showing.

He said: It was not a very good game to watch.

Italy were better in the first half and we missed lots of line-outs and we made mistakes in the scrum in the second half.

Scotland took their chance to pull away and we were lucky to escape with the try that the referee disallowed.

We played our best but, to be honest, we were not able to attack - we spent too much time in our midfield and had to defend.

We tried hard to get back into the match but it was too late for us to turn the game around.

We are now looking to finish the RBS 6 Nations with honour and we have two very very difficult games still to play but we must believe in ourselves and get the best results we can.