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Italy hammer 14-man Romania in Rugby World Cup warm-up rout
By Ian Cameron
In a one-sided affair at the Stadio Riviera Palme, Italy displayed their superior firepower by hammering Romania with 57-7 in their Rugby World Cup warm-up clash.
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The match began with Italy swiftly asserting their authority, with former England camp attendee Paolo Odogwu opening the scoring with a try in the 6th minute.
Romania hopes of making a contest of the fixture were delivered a damning blow just 8 minutes into the game when second row Adrian Motoc was red carded.
The Italians continued to pile on the pressure, and in the 12th minute, Monty Ioane further extended their lead with another try. Fly-half Paolo Garbisi added the conversion, making it 12-0 to the hosts.
The Romanians struggled to contain Italy’s offensive onslaught, and by the 16th minute, Garbisi extended the lead even further with a try of his own, followed by a successful conversion. Italy’s relentless attacking approach was on full display, and by the 20th minute, Ange Capuozzo added another try.
The Italian try-fest showed no signs of slowing down. In the 27th minute, hooker Giacomo Nicotera added yet another 5-pointer to the scoreboard. Despite the consistent pressure, Romania managed to put some points on the board through a penalty try just before halftime, avoiding the ignominy of a shutout, in an incident that saw Michele Lamaro banished to the sin bin.
The second half saw no respite for Romania, as Italy’s Juan Ignacio Brex secured a try just three minutes into the second half, followed by a successful conversion from Garbisi.
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The Italians continued to exploit Romania’s defensive vulnerabilities, and in the 54th minute Toulouse flyer Capuozzo secured a brace, which was again converted by Garbisi.
The Azzurri weren’t done though. In the 66th minute, Dino Lamb added his name to the scoresheet with a well-taken try following a line break, further padding Italy’s lead. Garbisi’s conversion extended their advantage.
The final blow came from No.8 Toa Halafihi, who rounded off Italy’s impressive performance with a close-range converted try in the 72nd minute, bringing the score to an emphatic 57-7.
Italy are moving in the right direction. However, this was nothing more than a training exercise. Sad that a country like Romania has gone backwards so far. In the 80's they had a world class team. What are world rugby doing to address this problem. Romania have been in nearly every world Cup since it began. Still, good to see Italy developing, might have best Italy team ever in next two years.