Italy beat Romania 32-22 at Sandy Park

Exeter hosted its final match in the Rugby World Cup tournament today (Sunday 11 October) which saw Italy beat Romania 32-22 and confirm automatic place at Japan 2019.

Italy scored four tries to three in defeating Romania 32-22 in the Pool D battle for third spot at Sandy Park and in the process gained a prized automatic berth at RWC 2019 in Japan.

Leading 22-3 at half-time following tries from wing Leonardo Sarto, scrum-half Edoardo Gori and fly-half Tommaso Allan, Italy did enough in the second half through an early touchdown from Alessandro Zanni (pictured) to keep a spirited second-half effort from Romania at bay.

Allan booted three conversions and two penalty goals to complete Italy's scoring but a late scoring burst from The Oaks kept things interesting for the crowd of 11,450 in Exeter.

Two tries from replacement wing Adrian Apostol and another to second-row Valentin Poparlan, combined with two conversions from Florin Vlaicu gave Romania due reward for effort, but Italy always had the game under control.