Parisse sets sights on Ireland

Captain Sergio Parisse hailed Italy's performance after they secured a potentially crucial bonus point with a 27-10 triumph in their Pool C match with USA at Trafalgar Park on Tuesday.

Parisse sent the Azzurri on their way with a third-minute try. Scores from Luciano Orquera and Martin Castrogiovanni followed while Chris Wyles kept USA in contention with a try, conversion and penalty before the interval.

A converted penalty try 14 minutes from time sealed victory for the Italians to maintain the pressure on Ireland and Australia and set up a showdown with the Irish in their final pool tie in Dunedin on Sunday.

Parisse said: "We are happy because we took the five points. It was the important thing for us. We scored four tries, so that’s important. Now we’re looking forward to our last match against Ireland with a lot of confidence.

"It was a difficult match for us and now we’re ready to take the maximum against the Irish."

The Italians got off to a flier in the third minute when Parisse collected in acres of space and ambled through to finish with a flourish under the posts after a surging move on the left exposed the USA defence. Mirco Bergamasco added an easy conversion.

Short of the line

The Eagles hit back after 17 minutes when centre Paul Emerick capitalised on a great lineout to break through three tackles before offloading to Wyles who charged over. The full back then kicked the extras to level the score.

Mirco Bergamasco and Wyles landed penalties at either end before a powerful drive from the Italian forwards opened the way for fly half Orquera to sneak through a gap and put his side 15-10 ahead just before the half hour. This time Bergamasco saw his conversion slip outside the right-hand post.

Prop Castrogiovanni muscled his way over at the left corner after Fabio Semenzato was halted just short of the line but referee George Clancy ruled out the try after consulting the TMO.

However, Castrogiovanni was not to be denied when he drove through a ruck of defenders on the stroke of half-time to plant the ball down.

The Azzurri secured the bonus point after 66 minutes when the USA pack collapsed under a surge from the Italy scrum and Clancy gave a penalty try. Bergamasco stroked over his third successful kick of the night to extend the deficit to 17 points.