Nick Mallett's Italian unit show great spirit to pull off a late win against 'Yachvilli-less' French side in Rome. 17 points from Mirco Bergamasco, including a game winning penalty with only five minutes to go, ensured a memorable day for Italian fans, and for Italian rugby as a whole.
The home side led after a second minute penalty, before France struck back through Vince Clerk, who, after recieving the ball with little space on the left hand side, executed a textbook chip-n-chase to cap off an exellent counter-attacking try.
However, the Italians fought back in the second half, with man-of-the-match fullback Andrea Masi fisnishing off a well deserved try. Good kicking the French no. 9 Morgan Parra made it 18-11 to the visitors, before some gutsy pressure kicks from Bergamasco raised the roof at the Stadio Flamino.
In my opinion, when watching the final few spot kicks from the winger, you could not fault his resilience. Not once did he stand to admire his inch-perfect strikes, but immediately turned his back on the sticks and set his sights back on the team goal. And you couldn't help but smile when the final whistle was blown :)
