By Siegfried Mortkowitz Sep 13, 2007, 0:58 GMT
Marseille, France - Italy recovered from their opening match drubbing by New Zealand to defeat Romania 24-18 in Wednesday's Pool C match at the Rugby World Cup in Marseille.
Fly-half Ramiro Pez took advantage of a Romanian mistake to set up lock Santiago Dellape for a try in the sixth minute. David Bortolussi added a penalty conversion seven minutes later and the Azzuri seemed to be en route to an easy win.
But the match then was dominated by defence and mistakes, with the Romanians holding their own against the favoured Italians. The Oaks even went ahead 12-8 in the second half when Alexandru Manta scored a try in the 43rd minute and prop Marius Tincu touched down four minutes later.
The match turned in the 53rd minute when Manta was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes, and Italy scored 10 points while having a man advantage.
The Italians were awarded a penalty try in the 54th minute, Pez converted, then added penalty kicks in the 63rd and 66th minutes to give his side breathing space.
Italy, who lost by 76-14 to New Zealand on Saturday, now sit in third place in Group C with 4 points, just behind the Kiwis and Scotland. By virtue of losing by seven points or less, Romania receive a defensive bonus point and are fourth, ahead of Portugal.
Earlier Wednesday, Fiji got their Rugby World Cup campaign off to a winning start as they beat Japan 35-31 in a thrilling Pool B match played in Toulouse.
Fly half Nicky Little got Fiji off to a good start with a fourth-minute penalty, but Shotaro Onishi turned things around for the Asians as he managed to find the poles with two penalties in the 18th and 30th minute.
Six minutes later the Islanders were back in front as Akapusi Qera scored the first of his two tries. Little converted to give Fiji a 10-6 lead, which Onishi cut to one point in first half injury time.
In the second half the free-scoring play continued as both sides ran in three tries. Onishi added another penalty and two conversions, while Little scored two penalties and two conversions to give Fiji their four-point victory.
Fiji head coach Ilie Tabua was delighted with the win but said it had been difficult. 'Being our first game, it was really hard for us. They threw everything they had at us.'
In the first game of the day, Tonga scored only their third-ever victory at the World Cup when they defeated the US 25-15 in their Pool A match played in Montpellier.
The Islanders, who were leading 13-3 at half-time, ran in three tries and their number eight Pierre Hola scored two penalties and two conversions for a personal tally of ten points.
Finau Maka, Joseph Vaka and Viliami Vaki scored the tries for Tonga.
Flanker Maka, who is known to bang his head against the wall for motivation, admitted that he went into the game jittery. 'I was a little bit nervous before the game because it was my first cap.
'But I was pretty confident, especially after I scored the first try so fast. I already knew the stadium because I came here to play with my French club.'
The US, who looked impressive in their defeat against England in their first match, but failed to live up to expectation against Tonga, scored two tries through Louis Stanfill and Mike MacDonald, one of which Mike Hercus converted. He also scored a penalty.
With England, South Africa and Samoa also in the group, neither of the sides are expected to progress beyond the group stages.
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