Riccardo Robuschi of Italy under pressure from the Georgia defence
Photo: V. UTA/IRB
25 JUNE 2006
By Antoine Bertin
Italy won through against Georgia in a tight battle of the kickers to finish the IRB Under 21 World Championship in 11th place.
In an attritional match the Italians found the going tough against the rugged Georgian resistance and in the course of the 80 minutes neither side managed to mount a serious try threat.
Ball was turned over too readily by both sides, neither of whom showed the precision required to beat the robust defences.
Italy started the better and pressure on the Georgian pack produced the first kickable penalty chance for Robuschi to put Italy 3-0 up. Georgia fought back and will regret two missed Malaguradze penalties before he finally levelled the scores just before the half hour mark. Robuschi did put Italy back in the lead, though, on the stroke of half time.
The start of the second half brought another period of sustained pressure from the Georgian pack and the resulting Malaguradze penalty tied the scores.
Another three points from the impressive Malaguradze punished Italian indiscretion to take the Georgians into the lead but Italy gained in confidence as the match wore on and Robuschi made no mistake with two further penalty chances, the last of which, on 76 minutes, sealed the victory.
Quotes
David Chavleishvili, Georgia coach: I'm very happy with the performance and really do think it's a game we could have won. I question some of the refereeing decisions.
Nicola Cattina, Italy captain: We didn't manage to put together the type of game we were looking to in training but we're delighted to have won the match.
Mario Zanato, coach: Even if we're not entirely satisfied with the match we're pleased to finish in 11th place after the last place finish last year in Argentina.
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