Rugby World Cup Game Preview - Australia vs Italy
Saturday 10 September 2011
Australia will be looking to start their World Cup Campaign off with a bang against the favoured underdogs Italy at the North Harbour stadium tomorrow morning. Italy meanwhile, will be hoping, against all the odds to pull a shock performance out of the bag to get as many points out of the match as possible.
Italy Coach Nick Mallet has stuck to the formula that saw the Azzuri play some decent rugby in the 6 Nations, and seems to have made the best of the talent available to him. The Leicester prop Martin Castrogiovanni is joined in the front row by the formidable Andrea Lo Cicero and Leonardo Ghiraldini, and will most likely be where Italy will find most of their strength.
Ever present is the talismanic Stade Francais man, Sergio Parrise, playing at his usual Number Eight position. Arguably the best in the world, Parrise will be looking to add his leadership and motivational quality to his team, and of course put some points on the board.
Gonzalo Garcia and Gonzalo Canale are partnered in the centres, and after an impressive 6 Nations will be looking to impress the world and show the Wallabies what they are capable of. Mirco Bergamasco and 6 Nations Player of the Tournament Andrea Massi will add flair and speed to the Italy's backline, and are worth keeping an eye out for.
Coming straight from a victory over the tournament favourites New Zealand in the Tri-Nations, Australia enters this match as huge favourites. Wallabies skipper James Horwill is expected to lead his team to an early victory in the group stages of this competition, and will no doubt be looking for a four try bonus point as well as the win.
As ever, Will Genia and Quade Cooper will be hoping to explode into the game with their usual flair and tenacity, and will be looking to open up the ball for wingers Digby Ione and Adam Ashley-Cooper, as well as the ever brilliant Kurtley Beale.
Italy may not have the strength and skill that Australia have in abundance, but there is no denying the power that they have in the pack, and the leadership from players such as Parrise and Castrogiovanni. Whilst the Wallabies may enter as favourites, Italy, as always, never give up easily, and against France in the spring they showed just how much they are capable of disrupting the big teams. That being said, Australia are very much the in-form team of the moment, and not many would predict a shock win for The Azzuri.
Match Prediction “ Australia to win by 15
Players to watch
Andrea Masi “ One of the stand out performers in the Six Nations, with his pace and skill, and uncanny ability to find gaps in the tightest defence, Italy will look to exploit their fullback and hope to add points to the board.
Teams:
Italy: 15 Andrea Massi, 14 Tommaso Benvenuti, 13 Gonzalo Canale, 12 Gonzalo Garcia, 11 Mirco Bergamasco, 10 Luciano Orquera, 9 Fabio Semazta,1 Andrea Lo Cicero, 2 Leonardo Gheraldini, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 4 Carlo Del Fava, 5 Cornelius Van Zill, 6 Allesandro Zanni, 7 Robert Barbieri, 8 Sergio Parisse
Replacements: 16 Tommaso D'Apice, 17 Lorenzo Cittadini, 18 Marco Bortolami, 19 Paul Derbyshire, 20 Edorado Gori, 21 Riccardo Bocchino, 22 Luke Mclean
Australia: 15 Kurtley Beale, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Anthony Faingaa, 12 Pat McCabe, 11 Digby Ione, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 1 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore, 3 Ben Alexander, 4 Dan Vickerman, 5 James Howill, 6 Rocky Elsom, 7 David Pocock, 8 Radike Samo
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Rob Simmons, 19 Ben McCallman, 20 Scott Higginbotham, 21 Luke Burgess, 22 James O'Connor
