Italy dominates Japan with a few too many thrills

Italy dominates Japan with a few too many thrills

In Sapporo last test match of the summer tour in the Pacific for Italy. Gonzalo Quesada’s Azzurri defeated Japan 42-14 at the Sapporo Dome. Italy goes up 24-0 in the first half thanks to a free kick by Page-Relo and three goals by Capuozzo, Page-Relo and Zambonin all converted by Garbisi.

But between the recovery of the first half and the beginning of the second, the hosts suddenly reopened the game with two goals, both by Riley, converted by Matsuda: 24-14. The Azzurri però began to grind out the game again and with two Page-Relo punishments, a Garbisi goal converted by Marin and a goal in the final minutes of recovery the score settled at 42-14 final.

"After this match the overall balance of the tour è very positive,” says Quesada. “From the outside you only look at the matches, but we know everything we had to face in these 3 weeks, I don’t know how many other teams among the top 10 in the world would have agreed to do what we did. We won 2 matches and against Samoa we lost in really difficult conditions without the preparation we should have had: we arrived in the island in the night, 2 days before the match”.

“And even before this match we arrived in Tokyo after an 11-hour flight, we trained 2 days in 45 degrees before taking another plane to go to Sapporo and face a team that plays at an incredible pace. So sì, positive tour and another step forward for our growth. Garbisi is fine and è along with the other guys (he had been down after taking a blow to the head, ed). We will do all the necessary checks but è fine”.