Italy player ratings vs Uruguay | Rugby World Cup 2023
Despite an almighty effort from their less fancied opposition in the first half, Italy have maintained their 100-per-cent win-rate in the 2023 Rugby World Cup with a 38-17 win over Uruguay in Nice.
A period of ill-discipline part way through the first half saw two men sent to the sin bin for the Azzurri and Los Terros profited, grabbing two tries. Come the half-time whistle, Uruguay held an impressive 17-7 lead.
Italy rallied in the second spell however, and some more incisive running eventually saw the team grab their second win -and second bonus point – from as many matches.
How did the Azzurri players rate in the victory?
1. Danilo Fischetti – 7/10
Did a number on his opposite every time they faced off at the scrum in the first half. Handed a yellow card for collapsing a maul which saw Uruguay grab a penalty try. Off in 68th minute.
2. Giacomo Nicotera – 7
Ever-accurate at the lineout and an always willing carrier of the ball, carting the ball up time after time. Came within a hair of grabbing a try from a driving maul. Off in 68th minute.
3. Marco Riccioni – 6
Tackled resolutely throughout and was a major part of a strong set-piece effort in the first half. Off in 50th minute.
4. Niccolo Cannone – 5
Outshone by his teammates. Not as industrious on defence and struggled against a strong Uruguayan wall. Sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes for killing the ball when Uruguay were hot on attack. Off in 50th minute.
5. Federico Ruzza – 8
Signor Everywhere for Italy. Key at the lineouts, hit double digits on defence before the halftime hooter, and made a couple of nice runs with the ball. Prevented what looked like a certain try with some excellent work at the defensive maul.
6. Sebastian Negri – 6
Put in a couple of cracking hits on some unsuspecting Teros ball carriers. Penalised at the breakdown for a dangerous cleanout. Off in 60th minute.
View this post on Instagram
7. Michele Lamaro – 8
Led from the front in defence, hitting the big 20 before the 80 minutes was up. Scored a crucial try early in the second half to ensure his team stayed in touching distance of their opposition. Threw a fairly telegraphed pass that was picked up by Uruguay flyhalf Felipe Etcheverry and almost resulted in a try to Los Teros.
8. Lorenzo Cannone – 7
Made a couple of impressive carries in the lead-up to captain Lamaro’s try. Banked one of his own when he muscled his way over out wide during Italy’s purple patch at the beginning of the second half. Off in 64th minute.
9. Alessandro Garbisi – 7
Some nice work on defence forced a fumble from his opposite early in the match, and Italy quickly profited from some nice counter-attacking play to earn themselves a five-metre scrum. Worked well as a link man when the Italy attack got flowing. Had a couple of yips at the back of the ruck. Left the field with two try assists to his name. Off in 60th minute.
10. Tommaso Allan – 8
Like many of his teammates. took a while to find his feet in the match. Penalised for a seatbelt tackle late in the first half. Uruguay scored their second try of the evening from the ensuing field possession. Showed good awareness to charge down a clearing kick from Etcheverry, and the resulting territory eventually saw Italy capitalise. Sparked a counter-attack moments later, with the Azzurri scoring soon after, to really wrestle back control of the game.
11. Montanna Ioane – 7
Put in a lovely hit on defence immediately following Uruguay’s first score to hand some momentum to his side. Had no issues getting his hands on the ball but, in contrast to the normal run of things, struggled to break the gainline – that is until he crashed over for a try in the 52nd minute to put his side back in the lead. Hustled his opposite on defence well in the second spell.
12. Paolo Garbisi – 8
Aggressive on both sides of the ball, making some solid hits on defence and putting his hand up to carry regularly in the midfield. Finished the match with a game-high 12 carries to his name. A key organiser for the Azzurri. Only negative was a fairly terrible drop goal attempt with time almost up on the clock.
13. Juan Ignacio Brex – 5
Relatively quiet throughout, popping up to grab a well-taken try in the second half but otherwise largely fading into the background.
14. Lorenzo Pani – 5
A nice charge at the line from a malfunctioning backline move saw Pani grab the first try of the game. Went silent after that. Left the field temporarily in the 30th minute.
15. Ange Capuozzo – 6
Made the kick and led the charge that eventually forced a red-zone scrum for Italy – and Italy’s first try. A couple of other dinks paid small dividends for the Azzurri but probably put boot to ball on one too many occasions when his side would have done well to retain possession.
Reserves:
16. Federico Zani – N/A
On in 68th minute. Fluffed his first lineout.
17. Ivan Nemer – 6
Asked to play both sides of the scrum. Temporarily on in 30th minute as a result of Fischetti’s yellow card. Was rightly sanctioned for a dumb late hit on No 6 when Italy had already been awarded the penalty. Joined as a permanent replacement in the 68th minute.
18. Pietro Ceccarelli – 5
On in 50th minute. A step down at the scrum and the game was largely won when he entered the fray.
19. Dino Lamb – 6
On in 50th minute. Made a couple of solid carries and hit the breakdown with intent.
20. Manuel Zuliani – 7
On in 60th minute. One nice steal at the breakdown gave his side some good attacking ball while his carry game was also strong.
21. Giovanni Pettinelli – N/A
On in 64th minute.
22. Alessandro Fusco – 6
On in 60th minute. Scampered around the field with intent.
23. Paolo Odogwu – N/A
On in 68th minute. Made a nice run as soon as he entered the field.
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to comments