Italy kick off RWC 2019 campaign with comfortable victory over Namibia in Osaka

Italy started their Rugby World Cup campaign in the best possible fashion by securing a relatively comfortable 47-21 victory over Namibia in Osaka.

Namibia took the lead early on with a try from Damian Stevens, which looked to have unsettled the Italians before the Azzurri hit back with a penalty try to level the scores.

Tommaso Allan and Tito Tebaldi then crossed the line to extend the advantage to 21-7 at the break.

Further tries from Edoardo Padovani, Carlo Canna, Jake Polledri, Matteo Minozzi made the scoreline comfortable, before Namibia restored some pride with reposts from JC Greyling and Chad Plato.

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Heavy rain made conditions tricky at best, with the Namibians only scoring the first points after 25 minutes of play.

Italy had control throughout and made the most of the challenging conditions to ground out an impressive opening weekend victory, while Namibia took heart in their battling spirit which produced a pair of well-worked tries.