CONOR O’SHEA’S ITALY dug deep in Florence to claim a desperately hard-fought 20 -18 win over South Africa this afternoon.
The Springboks fell behind to Carlo Canna’s 64th minute penalty after the Azzuri had driven over tries from Dries van Schalkwyk and Giovanbattista Venditti.
However, the southern hemisphere giants were unable convert from the pressure piled on the Italian line in the final 10 minutes. Indeed, the margin of victory could have been even greater for the Azzurri as Marco Fuser’s late touchdown briefly made the scoreboard read 25 -18 before the TMO ruled the score out.
A lost Springbok line-out with just seconds remaining ensured the Florentine celebrations were not to be dampened on what proved to be a historic day for the rugby in the country.
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