After the defeat against the All Blacks, for the Italy captain “it was a very hard lesson in sport”. Metaman Capuozzo: “They feared us and took it very seriously”
It’s difficult to explain in front of the microphones a defeat of monstrous magnitude: the fourteen tries conceded by the All Blacks weigh on the shoulders of the Italian captain Michele Lamaro, called to analyze the 96-17 suffered by Italy in Lyon. “We didn’t do what we could and what we set out to do, they gave us a very hard lesson in sport,” said Lamaro. “But now we have to put it on our shoulders and think about next week’s challenge, which must immediately be prepared in the best possible way.”
DOWN TO EARTH
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Even if today talking about the possibility of competing with France to qualify for the quarter-finals appears to be too daring an exercise in imagination even for those who have the duty to try anyway: “We were coming off 4 victories – says Lamaro – against lower level teams, but today in a match where the result was very important, it was the great team that came out on top. Let’s get back down to earth. Their approach of patience and determination was of the highest level, while we were unable to express ourselves. Today we only managed to play in a few flashes, but if you don’t materialize and then you get into difficulty in scrums and touchouts, it becomes very difficult against these teams.”
FORGET QUICKLY
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For Ange Capuozzo, the All Blacks’ great performance is also linked to “the fear” they had of Italy. “If they took it so seriously, it’s because today we are a team that is feared,” said the Italian winger. “We already knew before the match the difference between the two teams, but now we have to be good at putting everything behind us immediately, because in 7 days we have another very important match against France. We will have to work well and immediately, we need a fresh head. Today must be taken as a lesson. Our World Cup isn’t over today and we’ll take our last chance.”
September 29 – 11.34pm
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