SAINT-ETIENNE, France : Italy will need a big improvement going into their second pool game at the Rugby World Cup as coach Kieran Crowley bemoaned his side’s inaccuracy in their opening 52-8 victory over minnows Namibia at a sweltering Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Saturday.The scoreline may be one-sided
SAINT-ETIENNE, France : Italy will need a big improvement going into their second pool game at the Rugby World Cup as coach Kieran Crowley bemoaned his side’s inaccuracy in their opening 52-8 victory over minnows Namibia at a sweltering Stade Geoffroy-Guichard on Saturday.
"If you had given me 50 points before the game I would have grabbed them," Crowley told reporters."But we turned over about 22 balls and you can't afford to do that. It was pretty hot out there and the boys are pretty gassed, so we'll take it and we'll move on. Italy have a long wait until their second game against Uruguay in Nice on Sept. 20, and Crowley said he would not change their plans.Namibia, who trailed 17-8 at halftime, fought hard but conceded three tries in the final six minutes. Their wait for a first ever World Cup win now stands at a record 23 matches.
"Towards the end it ballooned out a bit, but that is the conditioning when you are up against a tier-one country. When we got into their 22 we should have converted our opportunities into points.
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