Italy defeated the United States 22-10 to open play Sunday on the second day of the Women’s Rugby World Cup at Whangarei, New Zealand.
Canada beat Japan 41-5 and Wales took on Scotland, also at Whangarei.
Top-seeded and favorite England laid down a clear marker in its opening match on Saturday when it scored 14 tries in beating Fiji 84-19. England left no doubt in the minds of any of its opponents that it will take an extraordinary team and performance to prevent them winning the world title for the third time.
The three top-seeded teams in the 12-team tournament played on opening day in front of a world-record crowd for women’s rugby at Auckland’s Eden Park stadium. France and New Zealand also won their opening games but not with the authority displayed by England.
New Zealand had to come from 17-0 down to beat Australia 41-17 and France overcame a scoreless period of almost 50 minutes on either side of halftime to beat South Africa 40-5.
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Italy 22, United States 10
The Group B match between Italy and the United States always seemed likely to be one of the closest in the group rounds. Italy is fifth and the United States sixth on the world ranking list.
The United States might have been nominal favorites for their World Cup record. They won the inaugural Cup in 1991 and placed fourth at the last tournament in Ireland in 2017.
Several U.S. players took a knee during the national anthem in a protest against racism.
Italy came into the match on a high after beating third-ranked France last month. The United States had recent wins over Australia and Scotland but sustained a heavy loss to England.
The United States scored the opening try after only four minutes through Hallie Taufoou who crashed through tackles near the goal line after a pick and go attack.
The 5-0 lead held until the last moments before halftime when Italy equalized through Vittoria Ostuni Minuzzi, showing off its ability to keep the ball in hand in lengthy backline attacks. The conversion gave Italy a 7-5 break at halftime.
Italy stretched its lead to 12-5 with a try to Aura Muzzo who was at the end of the line when Italy stretched the United States defense.
The U.S. rallied strongly and had a chance to level the scores with a try to Jenny Kronish after 57 minutes but the conversion missed.
Italy then made the game safe with Muzzo’s second try and another to Maria Magatti 10 minutes from the end.
Canada 41, Japan 5
England-based hooker Emily Tuttosi scored three tries as Canada showed it will have to be considered among title contenders with a win over Japan by seven tries to one.
Canada is ranked fourth in the world and has come into this tournament in strong form after recent wins over Australia, the United States, Fiji, Italy and Wales. Its only loss in its past six games was to New Zealand.
Big and physical with a rugged approach to defense, Canada also has powerful ball handlers among both its tight and loose forwards. It used its size and strength on Sunday to eventually overpower Japan, scoring five tries before halftime.
Canada made all the running in the match, scoring the opening try through winger Paige Farries after only two minutes. Japan leveled the scores at 5-5 with a try in the sixth minute to Maki Takano.
From then on, Canada exerted almost total control with a perfect record at set pieces. Tuttosi scored her first try from a lineout drive in the 14th minute and her second from a more powerful drive in the 29th minute.
Scrumhalf Brianna Miller made a dashing break from broken play to score the first of her two first-half tries in the 25th minute.
“We’re really glad we walked away with the win today.” Miller said. “I think today we had a bit of a challenge today in our discipline so we just have to fine-tune some things in our game plan and our discipline.
“We’ll just enjoy today’s win and concentrate on our next game in the next couple of days.”
Tuttosi completed her hat-trick in the 50th minute.
Canada was captained by Sophie de Goede, whose mother and father also have captained Canada at a World Cup.
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