Frustrated Italians must put refs out of their minds

Italy prop Michele Rizzo has warned that the Azzurri must pay less heed to how referees perceive their scrummaging and simply concentrate on the basics for which they have long been renowned when they face Ireland in Pool D at London’s Olympic Stadium on Sunday.

Long known for their prowess up front, Italy have found themselves effectively neutered in a string of recent games in which referees have penalised them at scrum-time and the air of exasperation has not been difficult to ascertain. The Italians conceded 19 penalties against France in their tournament opener. Six of those came in scrums and five of them on their own put-in with head coach Jacques Brunel claiming afterwards that his team simply didn’t understand what it was that referee Craig Joubert wanted.

The South African was especially hard on experienced prop Martin Castrogiovanni who was ultimately replaced and dropped for the following game against Canada with Brunel stating that the official’s interpretation had effectively decided that first game.