It would appear that Ìtaly have finally caught the same disease that has so far held back other teams from the Six Nations Championship.

Something has removed the flair from their game, leaving them with a superbly functional set piece, ripping the Portuguese scrum to shreds tonight, and half-backs happy to leave their skills in the changing rooms. That includes Italian scrum-half Alessandro Troncon, who should be applauded for winning his 100th international cap in this game.

The decision making was also curiously timid, kicking penalties early in the match, when they needed the four tries that would guarantee them a bonus point.

On the bright side, that same huge scrum should be enough to see them through to the quarter-finals, Scotland will probably still be licking their wounds from what should be a thrashing at the hands of New Zealand, and they also have a heavy win against the Scots in the bag from earlier this year.

For the Portuguese, another brave performance, and the very real possibility of a first World Cup win when they take on Romania in their final Pool C match next Saturday.