Italy outmatches Canada
FUKUOKA: Italy’s forwards bludgeoned Canada into submission and restored some order to the Rugby World Cup by scoring seven tries in a 487 victory at Fukuoka Hakatanomori Stadium last night, catapulting it to the top of pool B.
It was the second successive bonuspoint victory for Conor O’Shea’s side after a 4722 win over Namibia last Sunday, and all but assured it of third place in a pool that includes heavyweights New Zealand and South Africa. It has 10 points but still needs to face the All Blacks and Springboks, who are expected to qualify for the quarterfinals, short of an upset of the magnitude of Wednesday’s win for Uruguay over Fiji in Kamaishi.
The Italians, who rested several players, were in no mood to allow a second shock within the space of 24 hours and were led by rampaging loose forwards Jake Polledri, Braam Steyn and Sebastian Negri.
For the first 15 minutes they demonstrated that the gulf between tierone and tiertwo nations was still in existence, as Steyn and captain Dean Budd exploited some poor defence to give their side a 170 lead by the 13th minute.
Facing a rout, the North Americans started to make their tackles and began to get some possession.
They also had three giltedged opportunities to get back into the game, the most prominent when captain Tyler Ardron burst through and passed to replacement flanker Matt Heaton, who dropped the ball with the line open.
Winger DTH van der Merwe created space down the left, but when the Canadians wasted a threeonone chance the momentum swung back to the Italians. In the second half, referee Nigel Owens awarded a penalty try that secured the bonus point for the Italians. He also created some controversy when he awarded Ardron a try, only for television match official Rowan Kitt to rule it out for a knockon before the ball landed in the No 8’s hands.
The decision was met by boos but the crowd, now firmly behind the Canadians, rose to their feet minutes later when the underdogs scored the best try of the match with a superb finish by winger Andrew Coe. — Reuters