Italy struggle to overcome Romania

MARSEILLE, France -- Italy got their Rugby World Cup campaign back on track with a dour 24-18 victory over Pool C rivals Romania in Marseille.

Despite starting brightly, Italy struggled to break down their opponents for long spells and were given a scare when Romania took a 12-8 lead in the second half.

However, the Romanians' indiscipline cost them dearly in the final half-hour as a series of penalties from Ramiro Pez proved the difference between the sides.

Italy coach Pierre Berbizier made six changes to the side thumped 76-14 by New Zealand last week and it did not take long for his team to get off the mark.

Pez capitalised on a loose ball from the Romanian scrum to find Santiago Dellape, who fell awkwardly as he went over.

David Bortolussi matched an earlier Iulian Dumitras kicking effort by going short with the conversion but he soon made amends with his second kick, firing straight between the posts to put them 8-0 ahead.

Twice Italy came close to adding to their lead but were twice denied by referee Tony Spreadbury.

Catalin Fercu's blushes were spared after he was tap-tackled when attempting to counter from his own area but the try was disallowed for a penalty earlier in the move.

And just three minutes later video evidence indicated Carlo Festuccia had taken the ball out of touch before touching down.

Italy's day got even worse moments into the second half when Alexandru Manta, among a crowd of bodies, was adjudged to have touched down by the video referee despite the ball appearing to drop out of his hand.

Dumitras failed to convert but they took the lead a minute later when Marius Tincu drove through for a try. A lengthy delay ensued as Italy scrum-half Paul Griffen was carried off the field but newly-appointed kicker Ionut Dimofte held his nerve to put Romania 12-8 ahead.

The Italians found themselves back in the lead when Spreadbury awarded them a penalty try for persistent fouling and Pez kicked the conversion to put them 15-12 up with 20 minutes remaining.

Like Dimofte, Pez looked more assured than his predecessor, and twice kicked penalties to put his side 21-12 ahead.

Diomofte cut the deficit to six points with another penalty but further ill discipline from Romania skipper Sorin Socol undid the good work as Pez restored the advantage.

Italy were guilty of the same offence just moments later and again Dimofte kept up his impressive kicking record but the Azzurri were able to hold on for a hard-fought win.

In the day's other matches, Fiji opened their tournament with an entertaining 35-31 win over Japan in their Pool B match in Toulouse.

Fiji scored four tries to three to secure a crucial bonus point, the match going down to the wire as Japan threw everything at Fiji in the final minutes.

The defeat was Japan's second of the tournament, although they acquitted themselves a lot better than in their opening 91-3 defeat by Australia.

Meanwhile, a muscular performance by Tonga brought the United States back to earth as the Pacific islanders registered a 25-15 Pool A victory in Montpellier -- their first win of the World Cup and their first tournament success since 1999.

The United States had gone into the match full of hope following their impressive performance in going down 28-10 to England on Saturday. E-mail to a friend