Italy dominated territory and possession creating the only try of the game scored by winger Giovanbattista Venditti.

While Scotland’s attacking play had previously been praised during the tournament, their backline was a dormant force at the Stadio Olimpico only making sporadic visits to the Italian 22.

They were not helped by the late withdrawal of prop Allan Jacobsen nor their misfiring lineout as they lost six of their 12 throws, leaving Robinson offering no excuses. 

“We had to do a lot of defending,” he said. “We turned over too much possession and when we do that it's going to be pretty tough.

"When we got into their territory, to turnover the lineouts as we did was very poor.

"We lost Allan Jacobsen just before the start of the game when he rolled his ankle. We were under quite a bit of pressure from Italy.

"We had to do a lot of defending with 14 men as well. We weren't able to get any field possession at all and that's through our poor lineout.

"We're disappointed. We were still in the game at 10-6 but then we turned over the lineout again and, if you do that, you're not going to win games of rugby."

The result means Scotland suffered their first whitewash since 2004, so while they picked up plenty of plaudits for their performances they won no points.

It is particularly galling for Robinson, who had talked up Scotland’s chances before the tournament and whose biggest disappointment were the performances away to Ireland and Italy. 

"I feel for the players because they've put a lot into the tournament and we've missed out at times, and I would say that was the case with the first three games,” he said.

"In the last two games we've not been up to the standards that we were in those first three so that's the disappointment for us."