Italy vs Canada: Half time report

A colourful, carnival atmosphere inside and outside EllandRoad preceded the first ever Rugby Union World Cup to be played atthe stadium.

Italian and Canadian flags were in abundance and there was a strong following for both teams - many local children (andadults) adopting a team to support during the match.

Both national anthems were well observed and when Italy kicked off thenoise from the 30,000+ crowd was incredible.

It took 14 minutes for the first points to be put on the board -Nathan Hirayama kicking a penalty to put Canada 3-0 up.

And just moments later came the first try of the game - wonderfulbuild up play from the Canadians releasing DTH Van Der Merwe to goover under the posts. Hirayama converted to make it 10-0.

But soon the Italians were cheering themselves when they forced theball over the line for their first try of the afternoon.

And when a penalty was kicked in front of the posts the scores werelevel at 10 apiece.

The Azzuri thought they'd scored their second try of the afternoonwhen Francesco Minto went over in the corner but the TMO correctlyruled no try.

But they did go into the break with a narrow lead when Tommaso Allankicked a penalty right on the whistle.

Half time score: Italy 13-10 Canada