Drop-goal drama as Fiji pip Italy
It extended the Azzurri's losing streak to eight games.
Ben Volavola's kick gave Fiji the edge in a contest in which the home team excelled during broken play but were dominated in the set piece.
It was a heartbreaking loss for Italian captain Francesco Minto, skippering for the first time after a selection shake-up from coach Conor O'Shea emphasising youth.
"It was a close game, we conceded too much to Fiji in open play and all their tries came from our mistakes," Minto said.
"It shouldn't be like that."
Italy's inexperience showed early when wing Leonardo Sarto knocked on trying to gather a kick and Fiji set up centre Eroni Vasiteri for a try from the resulting scrum.
But they excelled at the set piece, stealing the ball from Fiji's line-out and drawing numerous scrum infringements, allowing Tommaso Allan to kick two penalties and narrow the gap to 7-6.
The flying Fijians' renowned backline got them out of trouble, throwing the ball around sevens-style before Jale Vatubua dotted down between the posts.
They were lucky to go into the break up 14-9 but asserted themselves after the restart, when winger Vereniki Goneva ran 60m to score after intercepting a loose pass.
Fiji's number eight Nemani Nagusa was sin-binned after a shoulder charge on Sarto and his absence was immediately felt when Maxime Mbanda scored a pushover try.
Allan levelled the scores at 19-19 with three minutes left on the clock and it looked like a draw until Fiji ran the ball from deep within their own half.
They knocked on, giving the Italians a scrum feed but managed to turn over the ball and set up Volavola for the match-winning drop goal.
Scorers
For Fiji:
Tries: Vasiteri, Vatubua, Goneva
Cons: Volavola 2
DG: Volavola
For Italy:
Try: Mbanda
Con: Allan
Pens: Allan 4
Teams:
Fiji: 15 Kini Murimurivalu, 14 Timoci Nagusa, 13 Jale Vatubua, 12 Eroni Vasiteri, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Ben Volavola, 9 Serupepeli Vularika, 8 Nemani Nagusa, 7 Akapusi Qera (captain), 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 4 Apisalome Ratuniyarawa, 3 Kalivati Tawake, 2 Tuapati Talemaitoga, 1 Peni Ravai.
Replacements: 16 Jale Sassen, 17 Joeli Veitayaki, 18 Manasa Saulo, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Viliame Mata, 21 Mosese Voka, 22 Nikola Matawalu, 23 Benito Masilevu.
Italy: 15 Edoardo Padovani, 14 Angelo Esposito, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Tommaso Boni, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Tommaso Allan, 9 Marcello Violi, 8 Abraham Steyn, 6 Francesco Minto (captain), 5 Dean Budd, 4 Marco Fuser, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Luca Bigi, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Replacements: 16 Ornel Gega, 17 Federico Zani, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 20 Federico Ruzza, 21 Tito Tebaldi, 22 Carlo Canna, 23 Tommaso Benvenuti.
Referee: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Pascal Gauzère (France), Graham Cooper (Australia)
Agence France-Presse
