Canadian women down Italy for second-straight win at Rugby World Cup

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Hooker Emily Tuttosi scored two tries to help Canada defeat Italy 22-12 on Saturday for a second straight win and a berth in the quarterfinals at the Women's Rugby World Cup.

After conceding a try in the first minute, the Canadians scored 22 consecutive points for a second straight bonus point win (for four tries scored in a game). Tuttosi, usually found at the back of Canada's powerful driving maul, has five tries in two games at the tournament.

Third-ranked Canada (2-0-0) tops Pool B with 10 points, ahead of No. 5 Italy (1-1-0) and the sixth-ranked U.S. (1-1-0), both with five points. No. 13 Japan (0-2-0) has yet to earn a point in the group basement.

A win over the U.S. next Saturday in Auckland would ensure Canada finishes atop the group, which could mean a more favourable quarterfinal draw. The Canadians could also finish first with a bonus-point loss (for losing by seven points or less).

The top two in each of the three pools and two best third-place finishers advance to the quarterfinals. With the first tiebreaker going to the winner of the match between the two tied teams, Canada can finish no lower than second in the pool given it has beaten Italy.

"We came here wanting to win the World Cup and the first step is to get wins and bonus points. And we've managed to do that in our first two games in this pool against really tough opposition," said Canadian captain Sophie de Goede, who had another standout game.

Canada started slowly but eventually used its power and superiority in the set pieces to grind down the Italians.

Paige Farries and Sara Kaljuvee also scored tries for Canada, which led 12-5 at the half. Brianna Miller kicked a conversion.

Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi and captain Elisa Giordano scored tries for Italy, which lost 34-24 to Canada in July in a World Cup warm-up in Langford, B.C. Michela Sillari kicked a conversion.

Saturday's game kicked off at 7:45 p.m. ET Saturday (12:45 p.m. Sunday local time) at Waitakere Stadium. Earlier the U.S. defeated No. 13 Japan 30-17 in Whangarei.

It was a disastrous start for Canada after kicking the ball away following the opening kickoff. The ball went to Minuzzi and the Italian fullback raced past several would-be Canadian tacklers to score in the first minute.

Canada attacked the Italian try-line after a successful driving maul but lost the ball. Another unforced error killed a subsequent Canadian move in the Italian end.

The Canadians were finally rewarded in the 18th minute when, after an 11-phase attack, Farries sliced through the Italian defence to touch Down Under the posts after a 35-metre run. Miller's conversion gave Canada a 7-5 lead.

A penalty against Italy produced another lineout near the Italian try-line. De Goede hauled the ball in and the Canadian driving maul kicked in with Tuttosi scoring in the 36th minute. Miller's attempted conversion hit the goalpost.

Both teams were guilty of errors in a sloppy first half.

A 21-phase Canadian attack early in the second half led to two penalties against Italy, with the Canadian opting to tap and go both times. The ball eventually went wide to Kaljuvee who scored in the 50th minute for a 17-5 lead.

The lead grew to 22-56 in the 56th minute via Tuttosi at the back of the maul.

Canada was reduced to 14 women for 10 minutes when replacement flanker Emma Taylor was sent to the sin bin in the 66th minute for a late hit on an Italian kicker.

Giordano added a consolation try for the Italians in the 79th minute.

Canada downed Japan 41-5 in its opener last Saturday in Whangarei while Italy beat the U.S. 22-10.

The Canadians lost fly half Taylor Perry in their final training session before the tournament when the 22-year-old from Oakville, Ont., tore her anterior cruciate ligament.

Canada coach Kevin Rouet made two changes to his starting 15 with Olivia DeMerchant coming in at prop and Sara Svoboda at open-side flanker with Brittany Kassil and Karen Paquin shifting to the replacements.

DeMerchant became the seventh Canadian woman to win 50 caps.

The tournament which runs through Nov. 12, was originally slated to run from Sept. 18 to Oct. 16 last year but was postponed due to the pandemic.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2022