Sergio Parisse praises Scotland's transformation into Six Nations dark horses
Gregor Townsend's men have arrived in Rome with only pride to play for but the side have impressed at times during the Six Nations
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Your support makes all the difference.Italy captain Sergio Parisse has praised Scotland for transforming themselves from Six Nations whipping boys into genuine contenders.
Gregor Townsend's men have arrived in Rome with only pride to play for after defeat in Dublin last weekend ended their title ambitions.
But Azzurri skipper Parisse has still been impressed with the improvements Scotland have made after they recorded wins over both France and England.
"Everyone has seen how Scotland at playing in this moment," said the number eight. "They have had a great Six Nations after beating France and England.
"They missed a lot of chances to beat an Ireland side that have won the championship.
"So for us, they are a team that is no longer the Scotland team of five six years ago who were the team to beat.
"Tomorrow is a big challenge for us and the most difficult game we've played at home this season."
It has been another torturous campaign for the Italians having shipped 23 tries during four straight defeats.
This weekend represents one last chance at redemption but whatever the result, Parisse - who will rack up his 100th Test defeat if his side fall again to Scotland - believes the nation is improving under Conor O'Shea's watch.
And he believes there are lessons to be learned from the way the Scots have gone about developing their displays at both club and international level.
He said: "Losing is never great but I'm really proud of how the team has reacted after these games because it is easy to mentally switch-off when you lose so many games.
"But we've reacted really well and we know what we have to do to be more competitive.
"We started a process two years ago to make us better and it involves the two franchises Treviso and Zebre. They are both performing really well.
"We know that is not enough though. If you look at a team like Glasgow how they have performed the last three or four years and that is based on a programme that was put in place a lot of years ago.
"Now they are getting big results. Everyone is happy for you but hopefully you don't get a win here in Rome. You are an example of how a union can achieve good results by respecting and having confidence in a system."
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