Rugby, Rovigo champions Italy: dethroned Padua
Rugby, Rovigo champions Italy: dethroned Padua
Rovigo Rugby beat Petrarca Padova 16-9 in the 2023 Top 10 Rugby Final, graduating them Italian champions for the 14th time in history at a packed Lanfranchi.
First Half. Kick-off Padua, Faiva miscalculates the trajectory and gives the first closed scrum to Femi-CZ, which keeps possession and physically tests the defensive line, finding the first penalty of the evening on the 40-meter line. Montemauri makes no mistake, Rovigo ahead 3-0.
Petrarca reacts and settles into the Rovigo camp, with repeated percussive actions all over the front that test the tightness of the Rossoblu line. The two centers in black jerseys, in particular, find each other wonderfully, with running lines capable of breaking the first tackle every time, forcing Lodi’s men into apnea recoveries. In the 15th minute off-side Rovigo in front of the acca, Lyle shoots safely between the posts for 3 to 3.
The match heats up, with the forwards facing each other with hard faces and increasingly rough tackles: Padova physically asserts itself in the breakdown and in the 23rd minute earns the penalty of its first lead, signed by Lyle, 3 to 6.
At the restart Bersaglieri arrembanti, Van Reenen breaks a Petrarchino attack with a devastating tackle on the half, on the recovery the referee whistles a foul to Petrarcha, penaltouche with controlled ball forward for Stavile’s darting dunk. Montemauri doesn’t miss from a very low position, Rovigo ahead 10-6.
In the 34th minute Rovigo foul inside its own 22, Padova opts for the penaltouche and sets up the drive, which however Femi-CZ dabs and then goes to control, finding the referee whistle in its favor that fades the action.
The pressure of the black jerseys does not let the opponents breathe, forced in the trenches in front of their own line until the end of the first half, with a foul in the middle of the recovery: Lyle has no doubts, 10-9 and teams at rest.
Second Half. Padua attacks on the Rhodesian kick-off, but the defense is solid and earns a penalty that moves the game inside the 22 on offense, with the Black scrum confirming itself definitely in the evening on the orderly conquest. Tensions are running high, with both teams battling on the breakdown with no holds barred.
In the 48th minute Padua foul on a multi-phase by the red-blue forwards, Montemauri calls the posts and does not betray, 13 to 9.
At 52′ stoppage play and medics on the field to help De Masi, who tackles hard on Tavuyara thrown straight on but remains down on impact. The Petrarchan center leaves on a stretcher to applause, in his place Capraro.
In the 57th minute it is again a challenge in the lineout: Padua gives up an easy kick aiming for the big spoils, but the defense is again cynical to repel finding the kick in favor.
The physical and territorial erosion of the black jerseys knows no rest, at 65′ the goal seems a done deal but on the ground game Rovigo is really skilled with their hands and the attack is again repelled.
Last 10′: Petrarca is always on the attack, taking advantage of a decisive physical dominance on the breakdown and in the closed scrum, but indiscipline in the last meters before the goal remains a problem, while on the other side the tackling attitude is the real trademark of the Rovigo evening.
In the 78th minute, Rossoblu crowd in delirium: Rovigo manages to put its head in the Paduan field after a lifetime, the forwards work on the vertical hiding the ball building the base for Montemauri’s drop, lined up at zero 35 meters from the posts. Ballistics perfect, Rovigo ahead 16-9 with seconds left.
