Lineen said Scotland A were disappointing in the defeat by Italy

Scotland A head coach Sean Lineen described the 13-3 defeat by Italy in Biella on Friday as "unacceptable".

Having gone in at the break tied at 3-3, Italian centre Matteo Pratichetti scored what proved to be the decisive try on the hour mark.

Ruaridh Jackson scored Scotland's penalty late in the first half.

Lineen said: "As a coach that was probably the most disappointing game I've ever been involved in at any level. We need more preparation time."

Stand-off Luciano Orquera contributed Italy's other eight points in what proved a comfortable victory.

Scotland A failed to fire on all cylinders in a frustrating 80 minutes of rugby, with replacement David Blair missing a penalty to compound their misery.

"Our set-piece disintegrated, we lost several line-outs and our scrum struggled, so there was no platform there at all," said Lineen.

"It was still 3-3 at half-time and we thought we were still in it. But we made too many poor decisions on the ball."

Italy A: Paolo Buso (Futura Park Rugby Roma); Samuele Pace (Viadana), Andrea Pratichetti (Femi-CZ Rovigo), Matteo Pratichetti (Viadana), Michele Sepe (Viadana); Luciano Orquera (Brive), Simon Picone (Treviso); Franco Sbaraglini (Treviso), Davide Giazzon (Banca Monte Parma), Ignacio Rouyet (Treviso), Tommaso Reato (Femi-CZ Rovigo), Valerio Bernabo (Futura Park Roma), Simone Favaro (Banca Monte Parma), Manoa Vosawai (Banca Monte Parma). Replacements: Tommaso D'Apice (Futura Park Rugby Roma), Pedro Di Santo (Treviso), Mantvydas Tveraga (Banca Monte Parma), Silvio Orlando (Treviso), Pietro Travagli (Femi-CZ Rovigo), Kristopher Burton (Consiagi Cavalieri), Roberto Quartaroli (Banca Monte Parma).

Substitutions: Favaro for Erasmus 39 minutes, Quartaroli for Buso 49 minutes, D'Apice for Giazzon 51 minutes, Di Santo for Rouyet 55, Tveraga for Reato 62 minutes, Burton for A Pratichetti 70 minutes, Travagli for Sepe 79 minutes.

Scotland A: Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors); Mark Robertson (Edinburgh), Alex Grove (Worcester Warriors), John Houston (Edinburgh), Simon Webster (Edinburgh); Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors), Greig Laidlaw (captain, Edinburgh); Jon Welsh (Glasgow Warriors), Andrew Kelly (Edinburgh), Kyle Traynor (Edinburgh), Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors), Scott MacLeod (Edinburgh), James Eddie (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Gray (Northampton Saints), Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors). Replacements: Fergus Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), Ed Kalman (Glasgow Warriors), Craig Hamilton (Edinburgh), Roddy Grant (Edinburgh), Mark McMillan (Glasgow Warriors), David Blair (Edinburgh), Peter Murchie (Glasgow Warriors)

Substitutions: Grant for S.Gray 51 minutes, Thomson for Kelly 51 minutes, Kalman for Welsh 59 minutes, Blair for Jackson 65 minutes, Hamilton for R Gray 68 minutes, McMillan for Laidlaw 74 minutes.

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)

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