The Azzurri are at short odds to get the job done and have been assigned a significant handicap to clear by the bookmakers.
Italy v Namibia
Saturday 9 September
Geoffroy-Guichard Stadium
Italy 1/150 | Draw 66/1 | Namibia 10/1
Nothing short of the full five-point haul will suffice for the Italians here. While they won’t exactly expect to get out of the pool with New Zealand and France blocking their path, they would want to put as much pressure on those two heavyweights in case either slips up.
Namibia will have vastly differing objectives for the World Cup. They’ll be looking for decent showings and low concessions of points against the Tier 1 nations, and then target their game against Uruguay as the one to break their World Cup duck in.
The Southern Africans do have some handy players, with a number of them plying their trade or having spent most of their career playing in neighbouring South Africa including veteran centre Johan Deysel who will skipper the side. Other names to look out for are Blue Bulls back Divan Rossouw and ex-Free State Cheetahs hooker Torseten van Jaarsveld.
While Namibia have a couple tdy players in their squad, Italy are pretty stacked when compared to their opponents with the likes of fullback Ange Capuzzo, fly-half Paol Garbisi and flanker Michele Lamaro truly world class. The man I am most excited to watch, however, is former London Wasps utility back Paolo Odogwu. The man is an absolute unit who is capable of terrorising defences with his strong ball carrying as well as his surprising turn of pace.
In terms of head to head results between these sides, they haven’t met many times but they did clash at the 2019 World Cup with Italy running out 47-22 victors.
The handicap may be a steep one but I reckon the Italians will clear it. They are a vastly improved outfit and they will be looking to make a statement in their first outing.
Verdict: Italy (-31.5) 4/5
