Nations Cup results, Day 1
Italy A had a sweeping win over Russia but Emerging South Africa were not the first side to find the rugged Georgians a hard side to beat on a hot afternoon.
Results, Day 1
Italy A vs Russia, 38-15
Emerging South Africa vs Georgia, 11-3
Romania vs Uruguay, 10-6
Match Details
Italy A vs Russia, 38-15
Despite a committed defensive display by Russia, Italy A recorded a 38-15 win in the opening match of the IRB Nations Cup 2008.
The inaugural match of the IRB Nations Cup kicked off in torrid heat at the Arcul de Triumf Stadium in Bucharest. The Italians captained by their uncapped hooker Luigi Ferraro seemed able to master the high temperatures (around 30 degrees Celsius) and took control of the early forward exchanges, despite the vigorous challenge of the Russian pack, led by example by their dynamic skipper Vladimir Marchenko.
Cracks began to appear in the Russian defensive wall under the sustained Italian pressure and eventually tighthead prop Matteo Pietrosanti managed to break through for the first try of the tournament.
A few minutes later the young and talented Italian flyhalf Paolo Buso added three more points from a penalty, as a result of a Russian off-side. The Russian pack continued to battle bravely, but Italian threequarters - coached by former test scrumhalf Sandro Ghinni - punished them again, with centre Alessio Galante at the scoring end of a sweeping backs move, which started near the 10-metre line. Buso converted the try.
The Russians bounced back with their pack to the fore and Marchenko, leading the charge, was driven over for their first try. Buso added a penalty to the growing Italian trove for a half-time score of 18-5.
In the second half, although, because of a number of personnel changes - in particular the entry of the young scrumhalf Alex Yanyushkin - the Russian game went up in intensity and pace, though lack of passing accuracy and ball retention doomed their better efforts.
So in an almost identical script to the beginning of the match, the Italians scored early, capitalising on Russian possession, through their right wing Michele Sepe, who scored their third try, with Buso adding another penalty. Then the Russian forwards mounted a series of effective charges close to the Italian line, with loosehead prop Alexander Khrohin going over for their second try, converted by the lively Yanyushkin.
A try by Paul Derbyshire, who together with Fijian born flank Manua Vosawai dominated the exchanges in the loose, secured Italy the bonus point, with Buso adding a conversion. A penalty by Yanyushkin and one more Italian try by Giovancheli completed the scoreline, which read 38-15, a clear reflection of Italy's dominance and Russia's stubborn resistance.
Italy captain Luigi Ferraro said afterwards: "It was a very tough match and the Russians provided a strong challenge up front. They have a formidable pack, very physical and athletic and they challenged us at the point of breakdown quite effectively.
“Their forwards scored their two tries, which shows how strong they are. On the other hand, I have to give credit to my pack, who put up a brave fight and managed to ultimately tame the strong Russian challenge. Credit also to the back division who used the ball well, and managed to score a few good tries.
“This match has enabled us to test both our match fitness and a few tactical schemes for the crunch clash with the Emerging South Africans in round 2".
Alexander Voytov (vice-captain Russia) said: "This was an interesting game, but we missed several top players, which showed in the end. It was nevertheless a very good test of our ability and we came second best. This will no doubt help us concentrate for the second round. We must work on our ball retention and concentrate on basics, to be able to defeat Romania, who are the host nation.
"The heat has been also a big factor, as it was desperately hot out there in the field of play."
Scorers:
For Italy A:
Tries: Pietrosanti, Galante, Sepe, Derbyshire, Giovanchelli
Cons: Buso 2
Pens: Buso 3
For Russia:
Tries: Marchenko, Khrokin
Con: Yanyushkin
Pen: Yanyushkin
Italy A: 15 Alberto Sgarbi, 14 Michele Sepe, 13 Alessio Galante, 12 Daniele Forcucci, 11 Marko Stanojevic, 10 Paolo Buso, 9 Pietro Travagli, 8 Manoa Vosawai, 7 Paul Derbyshire, 6 Silvio Orlando, 5 Valerio Bernabo, 4 Agustin Cavalieri, 3 Matteo Pietrosanti, 2 Luigi Ferraro (captain), 1 Alberto De Marchi
Replacements: 16 Franco Sbaraglini, 17 Lorenzo Giovanchelli , 18 Antonio Pavanello, 19 Plinio Sciamanna, 20 Francesco Minto, 21 Giulio Toniolatti, 22 Andrea Sartoretto
Russia: 15 Oleg Kobzev, 14 Dmitry Zubarev, 13 Mikhail Babaev, 12 Sergey Trishin, 11 Vladislav Korshunov, 10 Sergeiy Shishkov, 9 Victor Motorin, 8 Andrey Sorokin, 7 Artem Fatahov, 6 Kiril Kushnarev, 5 Andrey Lugin, 4 Alexander Voytov, 3 Alexey Travkin, 2 Vladimir Marchenko (captain), 1 Alexander Khrokin
Replacements: 16 Alexey Volkov, 17 Vladimir Botvinnikov, 18 Alexey Chernyshev, 19 Rinat Timerbulatov, 20 Alexander Yanyushkin, 21 Sergey Bazhenov, 22 Alexey Andreev
Emerging South Africa vs Gerogia, 11-3
Emerging South Africa opened their defence of the IRB Nations Cup with a hard-fought 11-3 win over a determined Georgia in Bucharest, Romania earlier this evening.
The champions were made to work hard for their victory in baking hot and dry conditions and a surprisingly hard field. The teams enjoyed two water breaks because of the hot conditions.
Earlier Italy A opened the tournament with a stylish 38-15 win over Russia at the Arcul de Triumf.
The stubborn Georgian defence never allowed the South Africans to get into any sort of stride and they tackled Emerging SA back with determination, which resulted in many unforced errors for the team coached by 1995 World Cup winning hero, Chester Williams.
Georgia, for all their efforts, never really threatened to score and could register only a single penalty.
The teams were level 3-3 at the interval after an industrious performance from both sides, with Isma-eel Dollie (flyhalf) and Ortar Barkalala (fullback) each converting a penalty.
Dollie added a second penalty minutes after the break to put his team 6-3 ahead. The defending champions then finally broke through in the 49th minute thanks to a brilliant break by scrumhalf Sarel Pretorius, who ripped the ball from his opponent to put rightwing Howard Noble away for the only try of the match.
Williams admitted afterwards that his team had much work to do. We only had a few days to prepare but I think that we have the talent to play much better. Georgia made life difficult for us at the breakdown and with some fierce tackling, but we let ourselves down somewhat through several handling errors.
We now have a few sessions to prepare before our next match and I am confident that we will see an improved performance against Italy A on Sunday, said Williams.
Scorers:
For: Emerging SA:
Try: Noble
Pens: Isma-eel Dollie 2
For Georgia:
Pen: Barkalala.
Emerging South Africa: 15 Bjorn Basson, 14 Howard Noble, 13 Rocco Jansen, 12 Morgan Newman (captain), 11 Richard Lawson, 10 Isma-Eel Dollie, 9 Sarel Pretorius, 8 Francois Prinsloo, 7 Devon Raubenheimer, 6 Zolani Mofu, 5 Nico du Plessis, 4 Cobus Grobler, 3 Philip Lemmer, 2 Jody Jennecker, 1 Janru van Nierkerk
Replacements: 16 Greg van Jaarsveldt, 17 Jacobie Adriaanse, 18 Hendrik Roodt, 19 Ashley Johnson, 20 Waren Malgas, 21 Jody Rose, 22 Rudi Voght
Georgia: 15 Otar Barkalaia, 14 Giorgi Shkinin, 13 Aleksander Todua, 12 Revaz Gigauri, 11 Irakli Chkhikvadze, 10 Lasha Malaguradze, 9 Bidzina Samkharadze, 8 Besarion Udesiani (captain), 7 Irakli Gundishvili, 6 Simon Maisuradze, 5 Bachuki Gujaraidze, 4 Giorgi Nemsadze, 3 Shota Melikidze, 2 Iuri Natriashvilii, 1 David Gasviani
Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Giorgi Khositashvili, 18 Kakhaber Uchava , 19 Tornike Dzagnidze, 20 Giorgi Rokhvadze, 21 Lasha Khmaladze, 22 Irakli Kiasashvili
Romania vs Ururguay, 10-6
Romania flattered to deceive as they edged out Uruguay 10-6 in the final match of the first day’s action at the IRB Nations Cup 2008 in Bucharest.
After the passion of the match Italy A vs Russia and the drama of the Georgia vs Emerging South Africa, the third match of the inaugural day of the Nations Cup between Uruguay and Romania was always going to struggle to reach those heights.
It started with a bang, with the veteran Romanian flank Florin Corodeanu breaking out from a maul to brush off a couple of tackles to score near the posts. The Romanian fullback Florin Vlaicu added two more points with his conversion. A few moments later Vlaicu duly slotted a penalty to suggest a possible walkover win for the Romanians. And that was it.
No further meaningful Romanian attack, no forays into the opposition territory near the Uruguay line, no clear-cut scoring opportunities. Suddenly, Uruguay, quite lethargic in the early stages, turned the afterburners on and attacked with the ball in hand.
The first half ended with Romania leading 10-0, and the match finished with Uruguay coming from behind to score two late penalties through flyhalf Matias Arrocena to snatch an improbable bonus point for a losing margin of less than seven points.
Rafael Zerbino President Uruguay Rugby Union said afterwards: "I am very proud of the boys. They played surprisingly well after a long break. We could and should have won this match, but we improved as the match went on and with a few more players arriving this week, we can do well in the next match, though Georgia are a formidable team."
Uruguay Captain Juan Campomar said: "It was a good game for us, in the sense that we were in the game and we could have won it. We knew that Romania was a strong team, having played at all RWC tournaments to date. The match against Georgia will be very difficult, as they have made great progress."
Romanian captain Costica Mersoiu said: "We played relatively well in the first half, but we relaxed in the second half and that showed in the end. We have returned to the national team after a break of about three months and we hope to improve for the next match. Russia, who beat us the last time have improved a lot and we want to do well against them."
Scorers:
For Romania:
Try: Corodeanu
Con: Vlaicu
Pen: Vlaicu
For Ururguay:
Pens: Arocena, Caffera
Uruguay: 15 Agustin Perez De Castillo, 14 Ivo Dugonjic, 13 Joaquin Pastore, 12 Juan Llovet, 11 Juan Labat, 10 Matias Arocena, 9 Juan Campomar (captain), 8 Ignacio Conti, 7 Gonzalo Peyrout, 6 Alfredo Giuria, 5 Frederico Capo, 4 Martin Espiga, 3 Mario Sagario, 2 Carlos Arboleya, 1 Rodrigo Sanchez
Replacements: 16 Juan Rombys, 17 Nicolas Klappembach, 18 Sebastian Levaggy, 19 Juan Horta, 20 Santiago Carracedo, 21 Emiliano Caffera, 22 Nicolas Morales
Romania: 15 Florin Vlaicu, 14 Catalin Fercu, 13 Catalin Dascalu, 12 Ionut Dimofte, 11 Stefan Ciuntu, 10 Danut Dumbrava, 9 Ciprian Caplescu, 8 Costica Mersoiu (captain), 7 Stelian Burcea, 6 Florin Corodeanu, 5 Alin Coste, 4 Valentin Poparlan, 3 Paulica Ion, 2 Florin Tasca, 1 Radu Basalau
Replacements: 16 Bogdan Zebega, 17 Mihaita Lazar, 18 Mihai Macovei, 19 Daniel Carpo, 20 Florin Surugiu, 21 Csaba Gal, 22 Gheorghita Bigiu
Match officials:
Italy A vs Russia at Stadionul National Arcul de Triumf
Referee: Radu Petrescu (Romania)
Touch judges: Horatiu Bargaunas (Romania), Michael Chachua (Georgia)
Emerging South Africa vs Georgia at Stadionul National Arcul de Triumf
Referee: Alan Falzone (Italy)
Touch judges: Horatiu Bargaunas (Romania), Gustavo Gerbasi (Uruguay)
Uruguay vs Romania at Stadionul National Arcul de Triumf
Referee: Pro Legoete (South Africa)
Touch judges: Jerome Garces (France), Vladimir Volovik (Russia)