Rima Wakarua kicked four penalties and a conversion, and Canadian counterpart Jared Barker missed four of his seven as Italy scored a 19-14 victory on Tuesday to set up a likely World Cup showdown with Wales.
The two teams matched each other with one try each — back row Sergio Parisse going over for the Italians and fullback Quentin Fyffe crossing the Italian line.
But the difference was the kickers. Flyhalf Wakarua missed just one penalty while Barker managed just three and the Canadians are now out of contention for a place in the quarterfinal with just the consolation of a bonus point for losing by less than seven.
”It could have gone either way,” said Canadian captain Al Charron. ”We didn’t play enough in their end unfortunately and, when we did get down there, we had a few mistakes that cost us.”
The Italians, by contrast, now have a showdown with Wales on Saturday to effectively decide which team finishes second and gains a quarterfinal spot along with expected group winner New Zealand.
The Italians are a point behind the Welsh so a tie is no good.
”Maybe we lacked a little bit of confidence with the slippery ball. Anyway we won, that’s the most important thing,” said Carlo Checchinato, who wound up as Italy’s third captain on the night after Alessandro Troncon and Andrea de Rossi both went off.
”I’ve been captain against the All Blacks when we lost by many points but today we won. And we look forward to Saturday’s match.”
The Canadians were first to score in the 11th minute when Barker landed a penalty but he missed an easy kick four minutes later.
Rima Wakarua levelled it in the 23rd but he also missed a relatively easy kick in the rainy conditions.
The game was littered with handling errors and needless infringements and, although both sides had some strong runs to get within sight of the tryline, the first half was basically a kicking contest between the two flyhalves.
A kick by Barker crept over in the 38th to make it 6-6 but Wakarua regained the lead a minute later with his third penalty off the last kick of the half.
Italy replaced team captain Alessandro Troncon for the second half with Matteo Mazzantini.
Barker’s third successful penalty levelled the score again three minutes into the second half Italian number eight Sergio Parisse went close to scoring the first try in the 51st minute but was tackled by Morgan Williams as he was about to touch down and his legs crossed the sideline to rule out a score.
A minute later the Canadians were reduced to 14 men when centre Marco Di Girolamo was sent to the sin bin for repeatedly killing the ball in front of his own posts and Wakarua further punished them by kicking the points and regaining a 12-9 lead.
The Canadians were still shorthanded when the Italians finally scored the first try. The Canucks mishandled from their own scrum, Mazzantini kicked ahead and Parisse powered over the line for his first international try. Wakarua’s conversion stretched the lead to 19-9 with 10 of those points scored with Di Girolamo off the field.
A blunder by Italian fullback Gonzalo Canale, who knocked on inside his own 22 while fielding a long kick ahead by Winston Stanley, handed the Canadians a try in the 67th minute.
From their own scrum, the Canadians moved the ball left through the line and the overlapping Fyffe outpaced Canale in the other corner to slide over. Barker missed the conversion attempt but the Italian lead was cut to five points.
A 22m penalty by Barker hit the post — his fourth miss of the game. And the under-pressure Italians were left to play the last two minutes with 14 men after hooker Fabio Ongaro was sent to the sin bin by New Zealand referee Paddy O’Brien. — Sapa-AP
Scorers:
Italy: 19 (Tries: Sergio Parisse 56th ; Conversions: Rima Wakarua 56th; Penalties: Rima Wakarua (4) 23rd, 31st, 40th, 52nd)
Canada: 14 (Tries: Quentin Fyffe 67th; Penalties: Jared Barker (3) 11th, 38th, 43rd)
Halftime: 9-6