Italy 36 Tonga 12

In their second Rugby World Cup match Italy beat the ardent Tongans 36-12 at Canberra Stadium.  The winners scored three tries to the losers' two and were flattered by the scoreline.  In the end it was superior kicking which set Italy on the way to victory -- that and their scrumming.

Italy ended the first half leading 9-7, thanks to three kicks by their sturdy debutant, the New Zealand-born, Rima Wakarua.  But the Tongans had done the attacking which looked most likely to produce a try.  They attacked right from the kick-off, lost a turnover and then lost flank Ipolito Fenukitau to a neck tackle on Gonzalo Canale which may well have been late.

When his 10 minutes in the sin bin were over, Fenukitau was replaced and sat on the bench with that offending left arm in a sling.

Wakarua, however, kept Italy nudging up with three impeccably struck penalties to put his side up 9-0 after 28 minutes.  The next 12 minutes were Tongan.

They attacked through many phases and opted for a five-metre line-out, but lost the ball.  Italy had a scrum, from which Sergio Parisse drove but in his drive the ball squirted from under his armpit and the Tongans were back on phased attack and John Payne cut through for a try, which Sateki Tulip, the most erratic kicker at the World Cup so far, converted from touch to make it 9-7.

The Dallan brothers got three tries in the second half for Italy.  In all there were three brotherly pairs on the field in the match -- the Afeakis, separated by sad injury in the second half, and the Ngauamo brothers for Tonga.

Manuel Dallan got the first try 10 minutes into the second half.

Not long after that Inoke Afeaki got his head on the wrong side of massive Andrea Lo Cicero in a tackle and was stretchered off, not looking healthy.  His Tongan team-mates, bless them, then threw in a bigger effort which ended when Tevita Tu'ifau tiptoed down the left-hand touchline and scored a try of splendid skill -- 16-12 with 21 minutes to go.

Those 21 minutes were all Italy.  Two penalties by Wakarua made it 22-12, the second coming after a hectic attack and a second yellow card for a Tongan, this time lock Milton Ngauamo.

An Italian got a yellow card soon afterwards -- hooker Fabio Ongaro for a swinging arm -- which missed!  But they got a try when Manuel Dallan did well in setting up a maul.  Brother Denis got the ball off him and ran through for a try seemingly simple.

On time, aerodynamic Denis Dallan completed the family hat-trick when replacement centre Andrea Masi slipped through a sympathetic grubber which the wing picked up in the dive and scored.

Man of the Match:  There were the lively scrum-halves Alessandro Troncon of Italy and Tongan Sililo Martens with the fancy haircut.  There were the Italian loose forwards, Sergio Parisse, Aaron Persico and Andrea Rossi.  There were the shaven-headed Italian wings Denis Dallan and Nicola Mazzucato, determined on attack and defence.  And there was our choice -- Andrea Lo Cicero who did all prop things with power and found time to put in a charge or two.  His efforts had a great effect on the outcome.

Moment of the match:  You held your breath as Tevita Tu'ifua ran down a millimetre in from touch to score.  But the best was the clever sympathy of Andrea Masi's kick and the confident skill of the diving Denis Dallan in collecting the ball for the try.

Villain of the match:  There were three yellow cards -- for Ipolito Fenukitau, Milton Ngauamo and Fabio Ongaro.  The worst offence was clearly Fenukitau's, which makes him our Villain of the match.

Italy:  1 Leandro Castrogiovanni, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 3 Andrea Lo Cicero, 4 Marco Bortolami, 5 Santiago Dellape, 6 Andrea De Rossi, 7 Aaron Persico, 8 Sergio Parisse, 9 Alessandro Troncon (c), 10 Rima Wakarua-Noema, 11 Denis Dallan, 12 Manuel Dallan, 13 Cristian Stoica, 14 Nicola Mazzucato, 15 Gonzalo Canale
Reserves:  Carlo Festuccia, Mirco Bergamasco, Carlo Checchinato, Andrea Masi, Salvatore Perugini
Unused:  Matteo Mazzantini, Francesco Mazzariol

Tonga:  1 Tonga Lea'aetoa, 2 Ephraim Taukafa, 3 Heamani Lavaka, 4 Milton Ngauamo, 5 Viliami Vaki, 6 'Inoke Afeaki (c), 7 'Ipolito Fenukitau, 8 Ben Hur Kivalu, 9 Sililo Martens, 10 Sateki Tuipulotu, 11 Sione Fonua, 12 Gus Leger, 13 John Payne, 14 Tevita Tu'ifua, 15 Pierre Hola
Reserves:  Johnny Ngauamo, Stanley Afeaki, Usaia Latu, Viliami Ma'asi, Kisi Pulu, Sila Va'enuku
Unused:  Tony Alatini

Attendance:  18967
Referee:  Walsh s.

Points Scorers:

Italy
Tries:  Dallan M. 1, Dallan D. 2
Conv:  Wakarua-Noema R. 3
Pen K.:  Wakarua-Noema R. 5

Tonga
Tries:  Payne J. 1, Tu'ifua T. 1
Conv:  Tuipulotu S. 1