Italy make their Marco to claim Plate
Marco Bortolami saluted his Italy A players after they lifted the Churchill Cup Plate at Sixways on Saturday.
The skipper, whose side had spluttered throughout the tournament, came good when it counted with a victory that secured them third place with a 27-18 win over Tonga.
“We improved a lot and we put in a good performance,” said Bortolami.
“We have some young players and they need experience. It was terrible against Canada, better against Tonga, but was a real improvement.”
Flyhalf Riccardo Bocchino opened the scoring following a dominant scrum from the Italians in the opposition ‘22 and Tito Tebaldi converted.
A penalty from Etimoni Paea narrowed the margin after 16 minutes but was quickly followed by three points from the Azzurri after indiscipline at the breakdown from the Tongans.
Bocchino chipped away at the scoreboard with a second successful penalty, while the Tongans continued to make dents with their typically ferocious tackles but failed to make a further impression on the scoreboard before half-time.
A sprightly start to the second half saw Italy advance further with Tebaldi again slotting his third successful penalty to take his side 13-3 ahead.
With momentum on their side, the Italians found an injection of flair when Joshua Furno’s dummy pass on the wing set Andrea Pratichetti up for the Italians’ second try.
Having struggled to conjure a try during 50 minutes of play, the Tongans showed up in style as Viliami Iongi struck from just inside the 22, weaved through a handful of defenders and scored in the corner. The conversion was missed to leave Tonga 12 points behind.
A period of exchanges between the two sides ended when Etimoni Paea slotted a further three points for the Tongans, narrowing the margin to nine points.
Giovanbattista Venditti scored a try to equal the panash of Iongi’s, sprinting the length of the pitch to score his side’s third try.
A try in the closing minutes from Mateo Malupo and a conversion from Kurt Morath was but consolation for Tonga.
The scorers:
For Tonga:
Tries: Iongi, Malupo
Con: K Morath
Pens: Paea, K Morath
For Italy A:
Tries: Bocchino, Pratichetti, Venditti
Cons: Tebaldi 3
Pens: Tebaldi 2
Teams:
Tonga: 15 Mateo Malupo, 14 Viliami Helu, 13 Suka Hufanga, 12 Tomasi Sili, 11 Viliami Iongi, 10 Eddie Paea, 9 Soane Havea, 8 Pasuka Mapakaitolo, 7 Pepa Koloamatangi, 6 Paula Kaho, 5 Emosi Kauhenga, 4 Josh Afu, 3 Kisi Pulu (captain), 2 Atonio Halangahu, 1 Ofa Fainga’anuku.
Replacements: 16 Semisi Telefoni, 17 Maleko Latu, 18 Pepa Koloamatangi, 19 Tevita Ula, 20 Daniel Morath, 21 Sione Fonua, 22 Kurt Morath.
Italy A: 15 Durandt Gerber, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Andrea Pratichetti, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Angelo Esposito, 10 Riccardo Bocchino, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Francesco Minto, 6 Luca Petillo, 5 Marco Bortolami (captain), 4 Josh Furno, 3 Fabio Staibano, 2 Tommaso d’Apice, 1 Matias Aguero.
Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Andrea de Marchi, 18 Dario Chistolini, 19 Valerio Bernabo, 20 Giulio Toniolatti, 21 Ruggero Trevisan, 22 Nicola Belardo.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Llyr Apgeraint-Roberts (England), Peter Huckle (England)
