ITALY 23
CANADA 18
听
The Langford-based national team lost the game Saturday. But it won new fans for Canadian rugby before a crowd of 33,120 at Elland Road in Leeds, England.
鈥淲e are in these games. We played good rugby today, but just failed to convert. Eventually, we are going to turn the corner,鈥� said Phil Mack of Victoria.
The Oak Bay High and UVic Vikes product was a second-half substitute at scrum-half for sa国际传媒 in the 23-18 loss to Six Nations team Italy at the 2015 World Cup.
鈥淚t sucks to end up in another close loss [sa国际传媒 dropped two Pacific Nations Test matches over the summer in the final seconds]. But if we stick to it, it鈥檚 going to break our way,鈥� added Mack, by phone from Leeds.
sa国际传媒 often displayed swashbuckling rugby on offence Saturday, but was let down by some poor tackling on defence and spotty ball handling during crucial moments.
South Africa-born, Welsh Scarlets-pro player DTH van der Merwe of Victoria combined with Ciaran Hearn from the Castaway Wanderers of Oak Bay for a dizzying near field-length try to stun the Italians early. Nathan Hirayama of the University of Victoria Vikes kicked the convert to go with a penalty goal and suddenly it was 10-0 for sa国际传媒 before Italy rallied with 13 consecutive points before the half.
Fullback Matt Evans from Maple Bay, a graduate of Shawnigan Lake School, burst through the Italian line for another long and riveting run for a try to make it 15-13 for sa国际传媒 in the second half. Despite the Cowichan Valley product鈥檚 blazing go-ahead try, Italian strength took to the fore to pull out victory, but barely.
A penalty goal by UVic鈥檚 Hirayama capped Canadian scoring. Michele Rizzo and Gonzalo Garcia had the Italian tries while Tommaso Allan kicked three penalties and two conversions.
鈥淲e showed today we can perform against anybody,鈥� said Mack.
But sa国际传媒 needs to learn how to close the deal.
sa国际传媒 opened the 2015 World Cup with a 50-7 loss last week to now No. 5 Ireland before more than 70,000 fans at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff while Italy began with a 32-10 loss to France at Twickenham. That made the Group D match Saturday a must-win for both No. 18 sa国际传媒 and No. 15 Italy.
sa国际传媒 is now 2-6 all-time against Italy and winless in the last five meetings.
鈥淲e鈥檙e pretty disappointed, to be honest,鈥� said Canadian head coach Kieran Crowley of Mill Bay, in a statement.
鈥淚 thought our guys gave it everything they could. They played with some real emotion, some real energy. But in the end, it wasn鈥檛 quite good enough.鈥�
Connor Braid of Victoria started at centre, but the Oak Bay High grad left the game with injury in the first half.
sa国际传媒鈥檚 next World Cup game is an extremely difficult fixture Thursday against 2011 World Cup runner-up and No. 7 France (noon Pacific on TSN) at 30,717-seat Stadium mk in Milton Keynes. sa国际传媒鈥檚 best chance for victory is when it closes Group D play Oct. 6 against No. 17 Romania at 32,312-seat Leicester City Stadium.
