Gregor Townsend's side had lost successive games to France and Ireland, having opened up with back-to-back wins for the first time, before it closed its tournament on a high.

Duhan van der Merwe and Kinghorn crossed in the first half, though Scotland's advantage stood at just six points at the interval as Tommaso Allan twice landed penalty goals.

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.