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Missed conversion grants Japan their first ever win over Italy
By Lucy Lomax
Japan withstood a fierce second-half fightback from Italy in Parma to beat the Azzurre for the first time in the 21-year history of tests between the nations.
The Azzurre left themselves too much to do after trailing 22-7 at the break and despite bringing the score back to 25-24, a missed conversion at the death denied them victory.
Italy will quickly get the chance to set the record straight as the teams will meet again in the inaugural WXV fixture in 11 days’ time, in South Africa on Friday 13th October.
Vittoria Vecchini scored first for Italy from a maul and Beatrice Capomaggi added the conversion, but tries from Komachi Imakugi, Kotono Yasuo, Ayano Nagai and Otoka Yoshimura – the latter two coming while Italy were down to 14 players following a yellow card to Francesca Granzotto – saw Japan take command.
Granzotto made amends by scoring Italy’s second try at the start of the second half, which was converted, before Vecchini got her second of the match. This time the try went unconverted and the score was now 22-19 to Japan.
A penalty from Ayasa Otsuka extended the visitors’ lead to six points which proved crucial in the end as Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi’s try went unconverted to leave Italy one point short.
With 1.82 points gained, the win has lifted Japan above higher-ranked Italy and Ireland into tenth place, equalling their highest-ever position from earlier this year, and will have given them a real confidence boost going into WXV 2.
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Total and utter rubbish. All that so-called ‘Super’ rugby did for SA rugby was to increase the airmiles accounts for our players and contribute a moer of a lot of cash to the Antipodeans. SA's schools and club rugby are the secret, and the only problem for our top sides is that so many of them are being poached by the European ones, and from an early age, too. That's why the Boks are so good, but the SA senior sides not so much at the moment, but are slowly coming to terms with having to play in NH weather. Mind you, they had to do that in skaapnaaier territory in the old days, too.
Go to commentsI can’t believe Rugby Australia thought the NZRU would accept 1-12 split. I’m sure if the split was more even then the NZRU would’ve made it work.
It’s even worse when the NZRU relatively recently gave Rugby Australia a bigger cut of the Super Rugby broadcast.
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