Carlo Napolitano’s Fratelli d’Italia are doing the motherland proud. Native Italians most are not but for Tony Minichiello and the Azzurri these are times to savour.
An opening victory against co-hosts Wales, who were backed by 45,000 supporters in the nation’s capital, marked Italy’s arrival at the tournament in style. If last Saturday’s warm-up triumph over England was the best result in the team’s history, this will certainly rank alongside it.
Trailing 14-16 early in the second half and facing a spirited Welsh side who were behind by two points with 12 minutes remaining, Italy’s superiority with ball in hand told in the closing stages of the match as late tries from James Tedesco and Chris Centrone secured victory by a comfortable margin.
Josh Mantellato, whose late drop goal at Salford clinched the win against England, produced a fine display on the right wing with a try and three goals, and the centre Aidan Guerra crossed the line twice to leave Italy in with an excellent chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals in their World Cup debut.
Napolitano, who has played a key role in the recent development of Italian rugby league, said: “It has been a major couple of years in getting the team together and it is good to see the culmination in beating Wales.
“When we have the top level of footballer playing, the standard will be better. I am so happy and so proud of the boys. Wales played well and Iestyn Harris will have them firing as a professional outfit. They made it difficult for us and we had to stick to our gameplan.”
Mantellato said: “Our forwards dominated, which made it easy for us. The win against England gave us come confidence and it was special but tonight was even better because it counts for something. We have the experience and if we can stay injury free then anything is possible.”
For Wales there were encouraging signs and the performance will have provided optimism that the co-hosts can advance from Group D if they can produce similar displays against the Cook Islands and USA.
Iestyn Harris’s side took the lead for the first time early in the second half as Elliot Kear scored his 10th international try after collecting a high kick well. However, Mantellato scored a third Italy try shortly afterwards and Wales struggled to find a foothold in the match from thereon in, although they had a try disallowed when the forward Tyson Frizzell was adjudged to have stolen the ball in a two-man tackle in the early stages.
“I’m bitterly disappointed, but Italy were by far the better side,” Harris said. “We didn’t deserve anything out of the game. They had a lot of weight of possession, which made it difficult for us and we didn’t get into the attacking positions we wanted to be in. It doesn’t leave us in tatters but we have some work to do in the next seven days. If we win the next two games we still have a chance of going through.”
The result, and England’s defeat to Australia, mean the two co-hosts could potentially meet in the quarter-finals of the tournament should they both advance from their respective groups. The winner of that tie would most likely face New Zealand in the semi-finals.
Article source: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/ulster-rugby/ulster-rugby-duo-andrew-trimble-and-roger-wilson-get-ireland-recalls-29707141.html
Italy strike late to beat Wales in their Rugby League World Cup opener
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