Italy survive superior performance from Canada for first tournament win
Last Updated: 26/09/15 7:53pm
Italy survived a spirited fight from Canada to record a 23-18 win at Elland Road in their World Cup Pool D clash on Saturday.
Tries from Michele Rizzo and Gonzalo Garcia as well as 13 points from the boot of Tommy Allan gave Italy the win, but the Six Nations side endured a torrid fight from the Canadians, who were the better side for the majority of the encounter.
Canada scored two tries of their own, through DTH van der Merwe and Matt Evans, but in the end were unable to convert their dominance to earn a famous win.
The win sends Italy into third place in the pool, with their clash with Ireland now a must-win encounter if they are to progress any further in the tournament.
Nathan Hirayama opened the scoring for Canada with a penalty in the 15th minute, but the big shock to the Six Nations team was conceding a try directly off the restart after the penalty.
Van der Merwe was the one to set it up, taking a pass off the restart and tearing up the left touchline after brushing off a tackle from Giovanbattista Venditti.
Van der Merwe then drew a defender and passed to Ciaran Hearn, who popped back to Van der Merwe in the tackle, with the winger stepping the last two defenders to run in under the posts.
It was one of the great World Cup tries, and with an easy conversion for Hirayama it was 10-0 to Canade.
However Italy were able to immediately eradicate the score, after a break from Edoardo Gori led to Michele Rizzo crashing over the Canadian line.
Tommy Allan leveled the scores in the 26th minute, and Italy were nudged in front when he added another on the stroke of half-time.
Canada were denied a try early in the second half when Phil Mackenzie crossed, but the final pass from Conor Trainor was deemed to be forward after a lengthy review from the TMO.
Matt Evans was on hand to give Canada the lead shortly thereafter, with the full-back crossing on the back of a stunning solo effort but the conversion was missed, leaving Italy just two points behind.
Canada held onto their lead until a well-work short lineout from Italy sent Leonardo Ghiraldini deep into Canada territory. The ball was recycled and sent to centre Gonzalo Garcia who dived over for the crucial try.
After the conversion from Allan Italy were 20-15 up before a Canadian fightback that forced the Azzurri to defend relentlessly for the final quarter.
Canada were camped in front of the Italy line for a lengthy period of time before coming away with a penalty from Hirayama.
It set up a thrilling finale, but the Canadians were unable to go one further, and after Italy were awarded a penalty with time up, Allan stepped up to slope the scoreline after an impressive display from the North Americans.