The key area to improve if Italy are to qualify for World Cup quarter finals

Italy head coach Fabio Roselli says his side needs to fix its set piece issues if they are to stand a chance of qualifying for the Women’s Rugby World Cup quarter finals for a second successive tournament.

The Azzurri were plagued by line-out woes as they slipped to a disappointing 24-0 defeat to France in their opening Pool D match in Exeter on Saturday.

Both sides had been evenly matched throughout the first 25 minutes, but it was the French who asserted their dominance in the scrum and lineouts either side of the break which enabled them to establish a healthy 17-0 lead early in the second half.

With key possession and subsequent territory lost as a result of set piece mishaps, Roselli says a quick fix needs to be found ahead of a potentially decisive match against South Africa, next weekend.

“It was a really tough game for us,” reflected Roselli. “Without the scrum and lineout, we spent most of the time defending, so we used most of our energy in defence and this can be frustrating.

“France have shown they are a strong side with a strong scrum, but I am very proud of the effort the Italian players put in on defence.

“We have to [fix this] because without the scrum and lineout it will be difficult. We need to adjust, see what is happening and try to fix it.

“The Springboks have grown a lot over the last few months, and they have shown physicality too, with a good scrum. We need to relax and start to build to the next game.”

Fixture

Women's Rugby World Cup

Italy Women

24 - 29

Full-time

South Africa Women

All Stats and Data

While France failed to secure the bonus point, three tries were scored by Les Bleues and joint head coach David Ortiz believes that his side’s runaway win against the Italians ‘has set the pace’ for the rest of the pool stage campaign.

Tries from Joanna Grisez, Assia Khalfaoui and Charlotte Escudero gave Les Bleues a largely comfortable win in Exeter, even though they initially struggled to impose their game on a spirited Italian outfit.

The French spent the bulk of the opening 40 minutes inside the Italian half and dominated the set-piece but were dogged by handling errors throughout a scrappy first period.

Having failed to show their best in their sole World Cup warm-up match at home to England, Ortiz reckons his side have been able to blow away the cobwebs in an otherwise strong opening night performance.

“I think it [the criticism] was normal if you view our performances in the warm-up games,” admitted Ortiz.

“But I think this victory has shown that we are there, we are strong and can defend ourselves.

“We are a team that likes to play and playing helps us correct the mistakes [that we made] and hopefully in the next match against Brazil we can get better.

“This is a match that has set the pace for us, it has helped us establish ourselves as a team. The next games are against two different teams with different profiles, and this will help us.”