Blair Kinghorn scored three tries as Scotland rounded off their Six Nations campaign with a 26-14 bonus-point win over Italy to all but seal third place in this year's championship.
Gregor Townsend's side had lost successive games to France and Ireland, having opened up with back-to-back wins for the first time, but they ended their tournament on a high.
Duhan van der Merwe and Kinghorn crossed over in the first half, though Scotland's advantage stood at just six points at the interval as Tommaso Allan twice kicked over.
Kinghorn marked his return to the side with another try early in the second half and, while Allan did reduce the deficit to five points, Kinghorn's late third snatched a bonus point.
Van der Merwe brilliantly grounded the ball in the left corner mid-leap to get Scotland off the mark, but a couple of Allan penalties either side ensured Italy had the lead.
Marco Riccioni was shown a yellow card after another collapsed scrum and that proved a big moment as Kinghorn crashed over a minute later and this time converted.
Despite some last-ditch defending, Ben White was able to spin the ball to Kinghorn to stretch over in the 43rd minute for another converted try as Scotland moved well in front.
However, Allan collected Paolo Garbisi's grubber to open Italy's try count and, having missed the conversion, found the sticks from a penalty to bring Scotland within five points.
That set up a gripping conclusion, but Italy's hopes of snatching a second win in 42 Six Nations games ended when Van der Merwe played in star man Kinghorn on the counter.
Scotland get the job done
Despite what the scoreline may suggest, this was a far from vintage performance from Scotland and it could so easily have been Italy who came away with the victory.
Townsend's side ultimately came out on top, though, with this their eighth successive Six Nations win against Italy, who finish with the wooden spoon for an eighth time running.
Scotland now look certain to finish third for the first time since 2018, bar an improbable big margin of victory for England in their showdown with Grand Slam-chasing Ireland later on Saturday.
Kinghorn does it again
This was the first game Scotland had started without either Finn Russell or Stuart Hogg in their side since the opening game of the 2012 edition.
Ollie Smith and Kinghorn were brought in, and boy did the latter make the most of the chance, with his hat-trick taking him level with team-mate Huw Jones at the top of the tournament try chart.
It is the second time Kinghorn has scored two or more tries in a single game for Scotland, the other occasion also coming against Italy on the opening day of the 2019 tournament when also scoring a hat-trick.
Smith not pinning blame on Ford for England loss
Marcus Smith does not blame England's narrow defeat to New Zealand on Saturday on George Ford, despite his late missed kicks.
Ford replaced Smith, who had scored 17 points and set up England's only try in their 24-22 loss, hitting a potential match-winning penalty against the post before narrowly missing a drop goal.
England had held an eight-point advantage when Smith left the field, but Mark Tele'a's 76th-minute try before Damian McKenzie added five late points proved enough to get the All Blacks over the line.
The hosts' autumn series got off to a losing start as Ford struggled to find his clinical edge in the dying moments, but Smith does not lay any blame at his team-mate's feet.
"Sometimes that's the life of a kicker, we've all experienced that. It's part and parcel of the job," said Smith.
"I've learned so much off George. He's an unbelievable kicker, both off the tee and out of hand. It was one of those days.
"It's nothing to do with him why we didn't win the game. It's a team effort. Every kicker in the world has experienced that.
"We practise [drop-goals] as kickers every single day, but sometimes it doesn't go for you. We're all human and people miss."
Saturday marked a third consecutive narrow loss to New Zealand for England, with their last win an emphatic victory over Japan in June.
Despite that run, Smith remains confident that England can take lessons from these defeats to set themselves up for success in the future.
"International rugby is very different to the Premiership and the experiences we're experiencing now are very painful, but we'll be better for them," Smith added.
"Keep the faith. We've fallen again on the wrong side of the result, but we'll learn from it 100%.
"These experiences will tighten us as a group, and it will be worth it in the long run. We will be better for it."
Barcelona 3-1 Espanyol: Olmo brace sends Blaugrana nine points clear
Barcelona moved nine points clear at the LaLiga summit following a 3-1 victory over Espanyol in the Catalan derby.
Dani Olmo scored twice while Raphinha was also on target as Hansi Flick's side stretched their advantage over second-place Real Madrid, whose scheduled showdown with Valencia this weekend was postponed.
Barca broke the deadlock after just 12 minutes. Olmo latched onto Lamine Yamal's brilliant throughball with the outside of his boot, before beating Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia with a well-taken first-time finish.
The hosts doubled their lead 11 minutes later with Marc Casado finding Raphinha, who bravely lifted over the advancing Garcia.
It was 3-0 just after the half-hour mark, as Olmo received Alejandro Balde's pass before drilling home from the edge of the penalty area.
Espanyol, who saw two goals disallowed following VAR reviews, pulled one back when Javi Puado turned home Carlos Romero's cross in the 63rd minute.
However, it proved a consolation for the visitors, who suffered their sixth defeat in seven league games.
Data Debrief: Free-scoring Barca maintain derby dominance
Now unbeaten in 27 LaLiga derbies against Espanyol, Barcelona have now scored 40 goals this season; their second-highest tally after the first 12 games of a LaLiga season (42 in 1950-51).
Following Olmo's brace, which took his tally for the campaign to five, the Blaugrana are the only team with four different players to have scored at least five goals in Europe's top five leagues this term.
In setting up Raphinha's goal, Casado is the first Barca player from Spain to provide an assist in three successive games in all competitions since at least the 2014-15 season.
Zverev soars past Humbert to claim Paris Masters crown
Alexander Zverev soared to the Paris Masters title following a commanding 6-2 6-2 victory over home favourite Ugo Humbert in the final.
The German took just 75 minutes to seal his seventh career ATP Masters triumph, and second silverware of the season.
Humbert received a raucous reception as he aimed to become the first Frenchman to win this event since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008.
However, the crowd were silenced when Zverev broke in the third and fifth games on his way to taking the opening set.
The Italian Open champion also dominated the second set, dropping just five points on serve as he wrapped up a comfortable victory.
"I knew I had to play like this to win today," Zverev said. "Ugo is an incredible player, but here in Paris, he plays even better than he usually does, and I knew that.
"Once the crowd gets involved, it's going to be difficult. So, I had to take that away early, and I did, so I'm happy about that."
Zverev was also delighted to triumph in Paris, and demonstrate the strides he has made since suffering a horrifying ankle injury during his 2022 French Open semi-final against Rafael Nadal.
"It was not 100% guaranteed that I would be back at this level," he added. "So, to win this title here in Paris means the world to me, and I'm sure it means everything to those in my box, because they have done so much for me."
Data Debrief: Zverev surpasses Medvedev and matches Sinner
Runner-up to Daniil Medvedev in 2020, Zverev went one better at the Accor Arena four years later, and will be seeded second at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.
The second German to win this event after Boris Becker, he surpassed Medvedev (six) with his seventh ATP Masters crown the outright most of any player born since the format's inception in 1990.
Zverev also matched world number one Jannik Sinner for the joint-most match wins in ATP Masters events this season with 28.
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