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Curse of the first-scorer claims another victim in Italy v Namibia

Oliviero Fabiani of Italy is tackled by Tjiuee Uanivi of Namibia during the Rugby World Cup 2019 Group B game between Italy and Namibia. (Photo by Koki Nagahama / Getty Images)

Namibia have put up a grand fight against Italy and scored some superlative tries, but they couldn’t prevent the curse of the first scorer claiming another scalp in this year’s iteration of the World Cup.

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Russia, Fiji, Argentina and South Africa all opened the scoring in their matches but also fell to their more-fancied opponents.

Namibia raced out to a 7-nil lead courtesy of halfback Damian Stevens, who finished off an excellent team try. Janco Venter gathered the loose ball after an Italian lineout went wrong and after the ball was played down the line, winger Chad Plato broke through three tackles before feeding back inside for Stevens to run in under the posts.

That was to be the Welwitschias only lead of the game, however, and was shortly lost on the back of a penalty try to the Azurri.

The Azzurri then went ahead after 25 minutes when Luca Morisi broke the defensive line and the ball was worked back inside for fly-half Tommaso Allan to run onto the ball at pace and crash over.

The Italians dominated much of the play at Hanazono Stadium in Sunday’s first half, with their forwards providing a stable base to attack and create space but it was not until scrumhalf Tito Tebaldi scored on the stroke of halftime that they were able to pull away.

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Winger Edoardo Padovani and replacement Carlo Canna both crossed shortly after the break to put the game beyond doubt, and meant the Italians had scored three times in ten minutes.

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Namibian wing JC Greyling then scored in the corner for Namibia but Italy finished strong and Jake Polledri peeled off the back of the maul to crash over and Matteo Minozzi coasted in after Italy spread the ball wide from a lineout.

Italy ultimately recorded a comfortable 47-22 win, but the real challenge will come in just under two weeks when they must face up to South Africa.

Namibia, who have lost all 20 of their World Cup matches, still managed to give the crowd something to cheer about; all three of there tries were excellent, sweeping movements that involved the ball passing through multiple pairs of hands. The 22 points they scored is the second-most they’ve ever recorded in a World Cup fixture and will put the faltering Canadians on notice, who they will square off with in the final match of the group.

– with AAP

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O
Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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LONG READ Mick Cleary: 'Borthwick needs to have faith in Marcus Smith' Mick Cleary: 'Borthwick needs to have faith in Marcus Smith'
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