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Italy has beaten Canada 25-16 in front of 12,210 fans at BMO Field in Toronto. It is the first win for the Italians on the current tour - they fell to Argentina last Saturday 37-22, while Canada had defeated the USA 28-25 in Kingston on the same day.
Canadian kicker James Pritchard and his Italian counterpart Kristopher Burton traded a pair of penalties each before a percentage play high ball for Canada in the 34th minute saw Conor Trainor fly through un-touched from a bobbled Italian possession. The try and Pritchard conversion gave Canada a confidence building 13-6 lead.
Italy hit back for another Burton penalty for a 13-9 half time score.
In the second half Canada began to miss the heft of prop Hubert Buydens who went down with injury in the first half - and this none more evident then when Italy organized a rolling maul that Canada driven across its own line as Italian hooker Tommaso D'Apice dotted down across the line. Burton converted and Italy were just one ahead 19-13.
Pritchard responded with a long penalty a moment later - and Canada were only 19-16 adrift.
The physicality of the Italians continued to plague Canada in the set piece, though the well-organized red wall of defenders rarely allowed a free pass.
Burton then hit a long penalty from 49 metres to make it a two score game - and despite desperate Canadian pursuit - a trip across the tryline would not appear in the second half.
A dust up late in the game saw no cards, but a penalty to Italy, who kicked it into touch for the final whistle and the victory.
Strangely, for the second week in a row, the timing system stopped at 38 minutes in each half, leaving fans and players alike unsure how much time was left in each half.
Scoring:
Canada 16
Tries: Conor Trainor
Convs: James Pritchard
Penss: James Pritchard 3
Italy 25
Tries: Tommaso D'Apice
Convs: Kristopher Burton
Pens Kristopher Burton (6)
Attendance 12,210
CANADA (Name, club, hometown)
1 Hubert Buydens – Prairie Wolf Pack (Saskatoon, SK)
2 Mike Pletch - Ontario Blues (Lucan, ON)
3 Jason Marshall - Stade Aurillacois (North Vancouver, BC)
4 Jebb Sinclair - London Irish/Stormers (Charter's Settlement, NB)
5 Tyler Hotson - London Scottish (Vancouver, BC)
6 Tyler Ardron - Ontario Blues (Lakefield, ON)
7 Chauncey O’Toole - The Rock (Belleisle, NB)
8 Aaron Carpenter - Plymouth Albion (Brantford, ON)
9 Sean White - unattached (Victoria, BC)
10 Matt Evans - Cornish Pirates (Duncan, BC)
11 Phil Mackenzie - London Welsh (Oakville, ON)
12 Mike Scholz - Ontario Blues (Oakville, ON)
13 DTH Van der Merwe - Glasgow Warriors (Victoria, BC)
14 Conor Trainor - British Columbia (Vancouver, BC)
15 James Pritchard - Bedford Blues (Parkes, Australia)
RESERVES
16 Andrew Tiedemann (for Pletch @ 58 mins) - Prairie Wolf Pack (St. Albert, AB)
17 Tom Dolezel ( for Buydens @ 15 mins) - Ontario Blues (London, ON)
18 Jon Phelan (for Hotson @ 77 mins) - The Rock (Montreal, QC)
19 Nanyak Dala (for Adron @ 68 mins) - Prairie Wolf Pack (Saskatoon, SK)
20 Edward Fairhurst (for White @ 58 mins) - British Columbia (Victoria, BC)
21 Liam Underwood - Ontario Blues (Toronto, ON)
22 Ciaran Hearn (for Scholz @ 63 mins) - The Rock (Conception Bay South, NL)
Head Coach: Kieran Crowley
Assistant Coaches: Geraint John, Neil Barnes, Mick Byrne
Strength and Conditioning: Matt Barr
Athletic Therapists: Carla Brash, Carrie Smith
Doctor: Dr. Joe Lemoine
Performance Analyst: Peter Huigenbois
Manager: Gareth Rees
Assistant Manager: Mark Winokur
ITALY
1 Michele Rizzo
2 Tommaso D’Apice
3 Martin Castrogiovanni
4 Joshua Furno
5 Antonio Pavanello
6 Alessandro Zanni
7 Simone Favaro
8 Robert Barbieri
9 Tito Tebaldi
10 Kristopher Burton
11 Tommaso Benvenuti
12 Alberto Sgarbi
13 Andrea Pratichetti
14 Giovambattista Venditti
15 Alberto Benettin
RESERVES
16 Carlo Festuccia (for D'Apice @ 67 mins)
17 Lorenzo Romano (for Rizzo @ 39 mins)
18 Marco Fuser (for Fuser @ 61 mins - Bergamasco @ 65 mins)
19 Mauro Bergamasco (confirmation needed)
20 Edoardo Gori (for Tebaldi @ 60 mins)
21 Riccardo Bocchino
22 Giulio Toniolatti (for Benettin @ 63 mins)
Coach Jacques Brunel
Referee: David Pearson (England)
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