Italy wear down Romania to get first win

Italy got their World Cup campaign back on track but were far from impressive in beating Romania 24-18 in Pool C yesterday.

Italy, thumped 76-14 by New Zealand in their opener, led 8-0 at the break after failing to assert themselves having breached Romania's defence after just six minutes, Santiago Dellape scoring in the corner.

David Bortolussi's penalty extended the lead but Romania pulled to within three points three minutes after the re-start when Alexandru Manta bundled over after a lineout.

With their tails up, Romanian hooker Marius Tincu caught Italy out by picking up from the base of a ruck to add a second try but Pierre Berbizier's side were then awarded a penalty try after some sustained pressure with Romania down to 14 men.

Three Ramiro Pez penalties extended the advantage before Ionut Dimofte's replied to earn Romania a point for losing by less than seven points.

Fiji withstood a determined fightback from Japan to win a thrilling Pool B clash 35-31 and get their campaign off to a perfect start.

The Pacific Islanders scored their fourth try 10 minutes from fulltime to seal a hard-earned victory and a bonus point after the lead had changed hands six times in the closest game of the tournament.

The tiny South Pacific kingdom of Tonga humbled the United States 25-15 in their opening cup match to effectively end the American's faint chances of making the quarter-finals so far.

The Eagles failed to repeat their inspired performance against defending champions England last weekend as the effect of playing twice in four days took its toll on a hot afternoon at Mosson stadium.

Tonga, who qualified for the tournament by winning one of the two repechage places, led 13-0 after an early try by giant number eight Finau Maka but needed two late scores from wing Joseph Vaka and replacement Viliami Vaki to seal the victory.

Playing tomorrow: 9 p.m. England vs South Africa.