Italy slide past Namibia in Osaka rain

Italy were made to work for it but came away comfortable 47-22 winners over Namibia at Hanazono Stadium in Osaka on Sunday. Neither side looked especially convincing but the Azzurri got the five points they needed as they press for automatic qualification for RWC 2023.

It was a shock start as Namibia got on the board first. Italy’s lineout couldn’t connect and the ball went wide to Chad Plato, who found Damian Stevens on his inside. The scrumhalf turned on the jets and finished with swan dive to the delight of the crowd. Cliven Loubser added the extras to make it seven.

The Azzurri rolled up their socks and it didn’t take long for them to reply. Namibia’s scrum crumbled with Italy on the ascendancy, giving the referee to option but to award a penalty try. A smart line from Tommaso Allan saw the flyhalf diving over some 15 minutes later, and then a lovely no-look pass from Federico Ruzza put Tito Tebaldi clear on the stroke of halftime.

An unfortunate scene just before Tebaldi’s try was that of Tiziano Pasquali being stretchered off with what appeared to be a shoulder or collarbone injury. Italy then made wholesale changes early in the second half and the replacements made their mark.

Edoardo Padovani was free on the left side to race in for the fourth try, the fifth coming soon after from Carlo Canna just after he came on the field. With the rain now coming own, Namibia got a second wind as Loubser landed a penalty goal before a well-worked second try. JC Greyling crossed on the end of a creative backline move from an attacking scrum.

Two more tries for Italy came in the final minutes when the rain finally let up. Jake Polledri broke off a driving maul to score, and then Matteo Minozzi showed his pace on a sprint to the line. The final say went to Namibian speedster Chad Plato, who stepped and tore away to score a fine individual effort though ultimately academic.

It’s a quick turnaround for the Azzurri, who now have to face Canada on Thursday with only three days rest. Namibia face their continental superiors South Africa on Saturday.

 

SCORING

ITALY 47
Tries – Penalty try (11’), T. Allan (26’), T. Tebaldi (40’), E. Padovani (43’), C. Canna (47’), J. Polledri (70’), M. Minozzi (76′)
Cons – T. Allan 3/3 (27’, 40’, 44’), C. Canna 2/3 (48’, 77′)

NAMIBIA 22
Tries – D. Stevens (5’), J. Greyling (57’), C. Plato (78′)
Cons – C. Loubser 2/3 (6’, 79′)
Pens – C. Loubser 1/1 (50’)

 

TEAMS

ITALY
1 Nicola Quaglio (17 Simone Ferrari 45’), 2 Luca Bigi (16 Oliviero Fabiani 45’), 3 Tiziano Pasquali (18 Marco Riccioni 39’), 4 Alessandro Zanni, 5 Federico Ruzza (19 Dean Budd 45’), 6 Braam Steyn (20 Jake Polledri 45’), 7 Maxime Mbandà, 8 Sergio Parisse (capt.), 9 Tito Tebaldi (21 Guglielmo Palazzani 59’), 10 Tommaso Allan (22 Carlo Canna 45’), 11 Edoardo Padovani, 12 Luca Morisi, 13 Tommaso Benvenuti, 14 Mattia Bellini, 15 Jayden Hayward (23 Matteo Minozzi 45’)

NAMIBIA
1 André Rademeyer (18 Nelius Theron 72’), 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld (16 Louis van der Westhuizen 56’), 3 Aranos Coetzee (17 AJ de Klerk 56’), 4 PJ van Lill (19 Johan Retief 56’), 5 Tjiuee Uanivi (capt.), 6 Rohan Kitshoff (20 Max Katjijeko HT), 7 Wian Conradie, 8 Janco Venter, 9 Damian Stevens (22 Eugene Jantjies 48’), 10 Cliven Loubser, 11 JC Greyling, 12 Darryl de la Harpe, 13 Justin Newman (23 TC Kisting 48’), 14 Chad Plato, 15 Johann Tromp (21 PJ Walters 67’)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Nigel Owens (Wales) & Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)