Itali overcame Ukraine in comprehensive fashion to qualify for the U19s European Championship in Belgrade in August, with a 50-0 win in the 25 degree heat at the Stadio Fogliano.
Clearly aided by winning a warm up game with Serbia and having spent ten days in camp together, in the run up, the Azzurrini scored nine tries. Antony Virzi and stand out loose forward Fabio Morosi both bagged a brace, as the hosts built a 22-0 lead at the break.
“Today my team put in a very good performance,” said Italy U19 head coach, Salvatore Pezzano. “They concentrated for the whole game and our defensive structure was excellent. We had a young team; we had one excellent week in camp and one day in France before playing against a French regional selection in Toulon, and that all contributed to our performance.
“I hope we will perform well in the European Championship. Our young squad contains plenty of good prospects. They will play in the Italian championship next, and we hope we will have the resources to prepare in a camp one week before we travel to Belgrade this August.”
Morosi was superb throughout, making seven clean breaks and tying up three or four defenders in the tackle, and still, invariably, getting the ball away. On four occasions the hosts broke up the middle for tries and the visitors struggled to control the play the ball area, their mounting frustration seeing Vitalii Kovach sinbinned for throwing a punch.
“Obviously, I’m not very happy but I believe in my team,” commented Ukraine U19 head coach Viktor Melnychuk. “The biggest problem is that we had no experience in international games. This was the first time for all these players and it was a big challenge for us.
“I believe next time we will be stronger. We don’t have a physical problem, just a mental one. The boys don’t have enough rugby league experience as there’s no youth competition older than U16 in Ukraine and it’s a big gap to seniors. We must start with the younger players to prepare for the 2020 U19 European Championship and play a minimum of two U19 games per year.”
ITALY U19s – 50
Giovanni Sciacca, Gianluca Priviterà, Antony Virzì, Stefano Dalmasso, Alfio Laudani, Giordano Arena, Francesco Mendosa, Leonardo Artale, Antonio Cacopardo, Giovanni Rizzo, Mario Di Sano, Fabio Morosi. Subs: Stefano Cenci , Salvatore Liperia, Nicholas Ferrero, Simone Leotta.
Tries: Alfio Laudani (5), Giovanni Sciacca (23), Antony Virzi (8, 39), Simone Leotta (47), Antonio Cacopardo (51), Fabio Morosi (20, 60), Nicholas Ferrero (63). Goals: Francesco Mendosa 7/9
UKRAINE U19s – 0
Daniil Hapon, Volodymyr Brodovskyi, Taras Serafin, Dymytro Bedulia, Dmytro Vasilishin, Liubomyr Beznoschuk, Vitalii Puchkov, Daniil Chervinskyi, Vladislav Rudov, Anton Pyatnytskyi, Vitalii Kovach, Maksym Shvets, Oleksandr Petrenko
Subs: Mykyta Ivchenko, Andrii Shelepovskyi, Oleksandr Moroz, Oleksandr Petrenko
Goal attempt: Liubomyr Beznoshchuk 0/1
Sin bin: Vitalii Kovach, Ukraine (53)
Half time: 22-0
