Italy secured their second victory of the 2023 Rugby World Cup this evening, defeating Uruguay on a scoreline of 38-17 to in Nice.
While the scoreline would suggest that this fixture was a walk in the park for the Italians, that certainly was not the case in the first half.
Uruguay were the better of the two sides in the opening four minutes. They would score two tries, while Italy would play a period of the game with only 13 men on the pitch after picking up two successive tries. The South American side would lead 17-7 at the break, with an upset looking as though it could be on the cards.
𝐔𝐑𝐔𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐘 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐃! 🇺🇾
A cracking finish to some great pressure!#FRAvURU | #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/PtPckgVgfE— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) September 20, 2023
However, there was to be no shock result on this occasion.
Italy absolutely dominated the second half, with their opponents seemed to tire and become increasingly ill-disciplined in both attack and defence as the contest went on.
In the end, the Six Nations side ran out as 21-point winners.
Strange exchange leads to Rugby World Cup try for Italy
While Italy's fourth try in the game was hardly a decisive one considering the margin between the sides, it did feature a rather questionable decision from the officials.
Lorenzo Cannone was the man to get the score, with referee Angus Gardner showing no hesitation in awarding the five points. However, replays seemed to indicate that the Italian might have dropped the ball. When TMO Tom Foley attempted to interject, Gardner did not seem all that interested in hearing from him.
When Foley suggested that there was a question about the try, Gardner responded by saying 'mate, only come in if it's clear, alright?'
Replays suggested that Cannone had indeed lost control of the ball before it was touched down.
This is interesting...
Lorenzo Cannone gets Italy's fourth try to secure the bonus point.
But, it looked like he dropped the ball. It seemed like the TMO Tom Foley tried to come in but referee Angus Gardner dismissed him.#ITAvURU | #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/qHE5vKbIbB— Virgin Media Sport (@VMSportIE) September 20, 2023
Appearing in the commentary booth for Virgin Media, both Dave McIntyre and former Ireland outhalf Ian Madigan were perplexed by the sequence of events.
Madigan: That appeared to me like a clear loss of control, I think Tom Foley has to step up here.
McIntyre: It almost sounded like Angus Gardner was trying to put manners on Tom Foley there, only come in if it's absolutely clear. The implication being that maybe Tom Foley has had a bit too much to say for himself in the eyes of the referee over the course of the first 56 minutes.
The TMO was certainly well within their rights to interject here, with Gardner's reluctance to listen a very odd move.
While this particular decision made no impact on the final result, you would hope that we would not see a repeat of this later in the Rugby World Cup. On that occasion, it could have very big consequences for the teams involved.
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