Scotland captain Rhys Tait believes his team must find an urgent solution to their defensive issues after a second consecutive defeat in the Under-20 Six Nations Summer Series.

Having only been eight points short of Italy for most of Thursday’s contest, a late capitulation saw the hosts secure a bonus-point and top spot in Pool A, consigning Scotland to last place in the group.

For Tait, Scotland’s maul defence was a particular cause for consternation, with five of Italy’s six scores coming as a result of lineout drives.

“A lot of conversations need to be had about our mall defence because that essentially cost us the game,” said Tait.

“They are big physical men and a lot of them are playing full-time rugby, especially the guys they had coming off the bench.

“So it was always going to be tough coming up against them, but I think we need to work on that part of our game, definitely.

“It’s frustrating but there’s a lot we can work on. We’ve got our own set up to defend lineouts that are close to our line and it just seems to be failing at the moment, which is something we are going to look at.”

Post-match, Tait and head coach Kenny Murray were left to rue the closing five minutes of the first half which ultimately swung the game in Italy’s favour.

Azzurrini hooker Lapo Frangini crossed to extend Italy’s lead, before Scotland were denied a try on two separate occasions by Italy lock Alex Mattioli, who stripped the ball away from Max Williamson and then Patrick Harrison as the interval approached.

And Tait felt those two missed chances had a seismic impact on the outcome of the game.

“A couple of times we were in their goal zone about two metres out and we’re dropping balls or getting stripped,” he said.

“If we score them then we’re up going into half time. I think individual errors just killed us.”

The score remained tight at 15-7 until the 65th minute before Italy ran away with the contest, scoring three tries in 10 minutes before an overtime consolation for centre Andrew Stirrat.

Despite a run of 12 consecutive defeats, Tait remained generally optimistic and believes that basic errors at the end of each half ultimately cost them a positive result.

“It’s obviously tough to take another loss but there are some positives to take from it,” he said.

“We asked the boys to come out with a bit of heart and a bit of passion and I think we showed that for large parts of the game.

“Towards the end we conceded a few tries which hurt us, and the individual errors in the first half, especially in the goal zone, meant we couldn’t capitalise on our opportunities.”

The Six Nations U20 Summer Series takes place from 24 June – 12 July. Fans can watch every match live. For more information visit: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJHm6BFw-9JRA1CMekNLwMg