Gonzalo Quesada’s Italy opened their summer season tour to Africa in emphatic trend, cruising to a 73–6 win over Namibia on the Hage Geingob Rugby Stadium. The Welwitschias confronted disruption earlier than kick-off, with Chrysander Botha stepping down as head coach and Jacques Burger taking cost for the foreseeable future.
Wing Paolo Odogwu returned to the beginning XV after a 12 months’s absence, and it took the Azzurri simply two minutes to strike. Referee Andrew Brace awarded a penalty attempt after the Namibians collapsed a driving maul illegally.
Namibia briefly clawed their means again into the competition, with two penalties from Tiaan Swanepoel decreasing the deficit to a single level.
However Italy quickly pulled away, establishing full management with their backline dictating the tempo. 5 unanswered tries adopted earlier than the break, with fullback Jacopo Trulla grabbing a brace and additional scores coming from Leonardo Marin, Tommaso Menoncello, and Simone Gesi.
Regardless of robust work on the breakdown from Max Katjijeko and Prince Gaoseb, Namibia had been unable to interrupt by way of the Italian defence within the first-half.
The second-half started much as the first had ended, with Alessandro Fusco darting over for Italy’s seventh attempt. Namibia continued to wrestle in possession, with repeated dealing with errors and missed passes providing Italy ample counter-attacking alternatives.
As each side emptied their benches, the competition misplaced some construction. Italy, nonetheless, saved the scoreboard transferring. Mirco Spagnolo and Stephen Varney crossed the whitewash, Trulla accomplished his hat-trick, and a second penalty attempt rounded off the scoring.
It was Italy’s biggest-ever win over Namibia because the groups first met in 1991—a commanding assertion from Quesada’s new-look facet.
Namibia will now flip their consideration to the 2025 Rugby Africa Cup, the place they face Senegal within the quarter-finals with Rugby World Cup qualification on the road. Italy proceed their tour in South Africa, with the primary Check towards the Springboks set for July 5.
