Karen Findlay's side had been kept scoreless for each of their first four matches but ended that record when replacement Lauren Harris went over a quarter of an hour into the second half.

Lisa Ritchie added the conversion but by that point the Scots were already 24-7 down and never threatening a first win of the campaign.

The Italian onslaught had started as early as the eighth minute when centre Manuela Furlan attacked from wide and crashed over for the game's opening try.

The home pack began to dominate in the tight and the loose and after a couple of charges from Sara Barattin and Vanessa Chindamo, No.8 Silvia Gaudino charged in for the second try after 22 minutes.

All the momentum was with the home side and when an up and under was not dealt with by the Scots, Chindamo collected to score a third try two minutes before the break.

And it got even worse on the stroke of half-time as a flowing move through the Italian backs sent winger Chiara Castellarin over, Veronica Schiavon converting on both occasions to make it 24-0 at the break.

Revitalised by half-time, the Scots fought gamely in the second half and were duly rewarded when Harris went over for her try.

And that improvement continued as the Scots grabbed a second try through winger Sarah Dixon to edge the score back to 24-12.

But it was the Azzurre who had the final say five minutes from time as prop Lucia Gai used all her power to smash her way over for their fifth try.