Italy defeated Namibia 47-22 in a Pool B match on 22 September at Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka Prefecture, Higashiosaka City. Italy had a 21-7 lead at the break.
The match may be viewed in the U.S. on NBC Sports Gold on-demand as part of an RWC subscription package.
Italy will face Canada on 26 September and will need to gain a win if they hope to qualify for the RWC in 2023. To gain the Quarterfinals, the team would also need to beat either South Africa or New Zealand. Namibia will face South Africa on 28 September.
Match Recap
Namibia struck first after a botched lineout attempt by Italy with Chad Plato offloading to scrum-half Damian Stevens for a try, which was converted by flyhalf Cliven Loubser for a 7-0 lead. A scrum infraction by Namibia led to a penalty try for the Azzurri to level the match at 7 all.
Italy scored twice again after a linebreak with Tommaso Allan finishing with a try, which he then converted, 14-7. A Federico Ruzza no lock pass to Tito Tebaldi added a third try for the Azzurri prior to the break with Allan adding the extras for a 21-7 lead.
Second Half
Italy continued the momentum from the first half with Edoardo Padovani scoring a bonus point try down the wide channel and Allan adding the conversion to push the lead to 28-7. Four minutes later, Carlo Canna added a try and conversion, 35-7.
Briefly, the momentum shifted to Namibia after a penalty goal by Cliven Loubser. This was followed by a try by JC Greyling to cut the lead to 35-15.
Italy then added tries by Jake Polledri and another by Matteo Minozzi, which was converted by Canna to lead 47-15.
Namibia added a final try by wing Chad Plato, which was converted by Canna to cut the final to 47-22.
Both teams scored their second-most in a Rugby World Cup. Italy now tops Poll B with 5 points with New Zealand close behind with 4.
Player of the Match honors went to Italian lock Federico Ruzza.
Squads & Match Preview
Italy: 1 Andrea Lovotti 2 Luca Bigi 3 Tiziano Pasquali 4 Alessandro Zanni 5 Federico Ruzza 6 Braam Steyn 7 Maxime Mbanda 8 Sergio Parisse (C) 9 Tito Tebaldi 10 Tommaso Allan 11 Edoardo Padovani 12 Luca Morisi 13 Tomasso Benvienuti 14 Mattia Bellini 15 Jayden Hayward 16 Oliviero Fabiani 17 Simone Ferrari 18 Riccioni 19 Dean Budd 20 Jake Polledri 21 Guglielmo Palazzani 22 Carlo Canna 23 Matteo Minozzi
Namibia: 1 Andre Rademeyer 2 Torsten George Van Jaarsveld 3 Johannes Coetzee 4 PJ Van Lill 5 Tjiuee Uanivi (capt.) 6 Rohan Kitshoff 7 Wian Conradie 8 Janco Venter 9 Damian Stevens 10 Cliven Loubser 11 JC Greyling 12 Darryl De La Harpe 13 Justin Newman 14 Chad Plato 15 Johan Tromp 16 Louis van der Westhuizen 17 AJ De Klerk 18 Nelius Theron 19 Johan Retief 20 Max Katjijeko 21 Eugene Jantjies 22 Helarius Axasman Kisting 23 Lesley Klim
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia) Assistant Referees: Nigel Owens (Wales) & Frederico Anselmi (Argentina) TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
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