L'Italy closes with a smile, Gonzalo Quesada: "Positive balance sheet"

In Genoa, in the cold of the Luigi Ferraris stadium, Italy closed out its Quilter Nations Series in the best way possible, beating Chile with the result of 34-19 in the first historic challenge between the Azzurri and the Condores. “It was a very positive November – said Gonzalo Quesada – and the support of the public from Udine all the way to Genoa was incredible: the first goal of this Italy is to contribute through the work of the national team to spread rugby in the country, and to see all this support is important for us”.

“We can say that with ten changes in the formation, a slippery ball due to moisture and various other facts we can explain some of the inaccuracy today– added the coach. of the’Italrugby -, but we were still good at applying the plan we wanted, with a first quarter in which we put pressure on Chile with footwork to play in their field and lower their emotional charge: we did that well, perhaps not putting too many points on the board, while in the second half we were more inaccurate”.

“We had a solid conquest, it was the basis of this victory, and when we were orderly we scored, or came close to doing so – the French coach then stressed.

“The next step in our growth must be through closing these kinds of games sooner, managing certain moments better, continuing to raise our standards. We did not always score when we should have, but it is an important victory. Next step of growth is to close these kinds of games earlier and manage certain moments better to raise our standards. It is an important win, when we had to score to win we did it”.

“Kudos to Chile, we faced them with great respect, maybe even too much, we wanted to take all the points we could in the beginning, we wanted to build this game and we are not completely satisfied in that respect. But we have to give credit to our opponents, they made a good performance in their first experience against a Tier 1, showing off their qualities.We are happy to know that we gave this good opportunity to Chile, who showed that they are at the level to compete and deserve more test-matches like this” concluded Quesada.