Stanojevic double sets up Italian rout

Azzurri blow the Canadians away

Winger Marko Stanojevic scored two tries to help Italy beat Canada 41-6 in their one-off test in Fontanafredda on Saturday.  The Azzurri outscored their hapless opponents by five tries to none.

Replacement forwards Alessandro Zanni and Martin Castrogiovanni and captain Marco Bortolami also scored for the Azzurri.  Fullback David Bortolussi kicked five conversions and two penalties.

Canada fly-half Ander Monro kicked two first-half penalties for the visitors to trail 13-6 at the interval.

Italy had narrowly lost to Australia and Argentina in the last two weeks.

While the scoreline may suggest that the home side dominated, the Canadians gave a good account of themselves and it took the Italians more than 20 minutes to stamp their authority on the game.

In fact the Canadians took an early 6-0 lead, through two penalties by Monro.

But then the Azzurri found their rhythm and reacted in the best way possible, with a try.  And it was captain Marco Bortolami who cut through the Canadian defence to open his team's scoring with a try.  Fullback David Bortolussi added the conversion to give the home side a 7-0 lead.

Bortolussi extended the lead to 13-6 with two penalties of his own.

But in the second half there was only one team in it, Italy.

Stanojevic soon put his team further in the lead with his first try, converted by Bortolussi and then Zanni scored (again converted by Bortolussi) to make it 27-6.

By now the Canadian defence wavered and Stanojevic punished them further with his second try -- converted by Bortolussi -- to make it 34-6.

The final score went to Castrogiovanni, converted by Bortolussi, for the final scoreline.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries:  Stanojevic 2, Zanni, Castrogiovanni, Bortolami
Cons:  Bortolussi 5
Pens:  Bortolussi 2

For Canada:
Pens:  Monro 2

The teams:

Italy:  15 David Bortolussi, 14 Warren Spragg, 13 Walter Pozzebon, 12 Mirco Bergamasco, 11 Marko Stanojevic; 10 Andrea Scanavacca, 9 Paul Griffen; 8 Sergio Parisse, 7 Mauro Bergamasco, 6 Josh Sole, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Santiago Dellape, 3 Carlos Nieto, 2 Fabio Ongaro, 1 Andrea Lo Cicero.
Replacements:  16 Carlo Festuccia, 17 Martin Castrogiovanni, 18 Alessandro Zanni, 19 Maurizio Zaffiri, 20 Simon Picone, 21 Ramiro Pez, 22 Gonzalo Canale.

Canada:  15 Ed Fairhurst, 14 Mike Pyke, 13 Ryan Smith, 12 Derek Daypuck, 11 Justin Mensah-Coker, 10 Ander Monro, 9 Morgan Williams, 8 Aaron Carpenter, 7 Stan McKeen, 6 Mike Webb, 5 Oliver Atkinson, 4 Luke Tait, 3 Forrest Gainer, 2 Pat Riordan, 1 Dan Pletch
Replacements:  16 Aaron Abrams,17 Kevin Tkachuk, 18 Mike Pletch, 19 Stu Ault, 20 Adam Kleeberger, 21 Dean Van Camp, 22 DTH Van der Merwe.

Referee:  Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Touch judges:  Craig Joubert (South Africa), Romain Poite (France)
Television match official:  Peter Allan (Scotland)
Assessor:  Paul Bridgman (England)