Pool D Preview: Italy v Canada Canberra, 10.30a.m. in MelbourneItaly face the two most important matches in their history in the next four days with Canada, today's opponents at the Canberra Stadium, followed by Wales on Saturday, where a place in the quarter-finals will be at stake.
"This is a huge week for us," said the Italy coach John Kirwan. "Canada is our World Cup and it is a match we have to win. They are experienced campaigners and we cannot afford to take anything for granted."
Italy are playing in their fifth World Cup but they have never won more than one pool match in a tournament, a record they should better today having defeated Tonga 36-12 last week.
Kirwan has made one change from the side that defeated Tonga, with Mirco Bergamasco replacing Nicola Mazzucato on the wing.
He acknowledges that tiredness, rather than any Welsh superiority, could undermine their tilt at a place in the last eight.
"We have to play our four group matches in the space of two weeks and that is asking a lot," said Kirwan. "Wales will have had two days more rest than us, but we cannot think about that game until we have played Canada."
Canada are not quite out of the shake-up, but they would need to beat Italy and Tonga and pick up at least one bonus point and hope that the Azzurri defeat Wales by at least eight points in a low-scoring match.
Their coach David Clark believes Italy will start with the edge because of their berth in the Six Nations. "They are more experienced than us and they are used to playing against different styles," he said. "They should be more sophisticated than us and I expect them to play a very good game."
ITALY: G Canale; Mirco Bergamasco, C Stoica, M Dallan, D Dallan; R Wakarua, A Troncon (capt); A Lo Cicero, F Ongaro, L Castrogiovanni, S Dellape, M Bortolami, A de Rossi, A Persico, S Parisse.
CANADA: Q Fyffe; W Stanley, John Cannon, M di Girolamo, D Lougheed; J Barker, M Williams; R Snow, M Lawson, J Thiel, C Yukes, A Charron (capt), J Cudmore, J Douglas, R Banks.
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