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Italy can improve in time

The Italian line out is a building block according to Bortolami

Italian captain Marco Bortolami was a relieved man after his side finally ground out a 24-18 win over Romania in Marseille on Wednesday.

Italy had trailed by four points with twenty-five minutes remaining but managed to turn the deficit around, helped by a yellow card to Romanian flanker Alexandru Manta.

Bortolami admitted his side knew it would be tough but did not help themselves at times.

It was very good to get a win, but we knew it would be tough," he said.

"I think the first half we had a lot of possession but failed to score many points so it was very difficult at the start of the second half."

The Gloucester second row was quick to praise the character of his side having seen them fight back to gain a win that keeps their World Cup on course.

"This team showed a lot of good character and spirit to win this game," he said.

"The start of the second half was very difficult for us but we always believed we could win this game."

Both Bortolami and fly-half Ramiro Pez know there is work to be done before they take on Portugal, but are confident that they can improve in time.

"I think our scrum was outstanding and our line-out was good so we can build our game from there," said Bortolami.

"We need to cut out the mistakes we made and generally improve a lot," added Pez.

"But we have time this week in training to put the wrongs right ready for the next game with Portugal."