ITALY'S coach, Pierre Berbizier, was relieved his side managed to dig deep to fight off a determined Romanian comeback and record their first win of the RWC on Wednesday night.

Still suffering the after-effects of Saturday's 76-14 loss to the All Blacks, Italy produced a stuttering performance against a tough Romanian side to win 24-18 at the Stade Velodrome in Marseilles.

"I think it was important to win the match tonight," the former French halfback said. "We won but not without hardship and Romania knew how to make it difficult for us. But I was glad the players had sufficient resources four days after the All Blacks game to win this match.

Reuters
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