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PARIS - Italy were made to work desperately hard for a 31-5 victory over Portugal in their pool C rugby World Cup match on Wednesday as the amateur cup debutants once again produced a performance to be proud of.
Italy began strongly with a try to centre Andrea Masi and a penalty to go 10-0 up but Portugal, after spending almost all the opening half-hour defending, hit back with a try by lock David Penalva and trailed only 5-16 at halftime after two more David Bortolussi penalties.
The Italians, who thumped Portugal 83-0 a year ago, had to wait until the 63rd minute for their next points as Bortolussi slotted a penalty before a pushover try by Mauro Bergamasco and a second by Masi put some gloss on the scoreboard.
The victory, coming after their nervy 24-18 win over Romania, set the Italians up for a probable qualification showdown with Scotland on September 29 when victory would put them into the quarterfinals for the first time.
- REUTERS
