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Forty minutes to blow the hosts away, another forty to prove they can suffer too. At the AIA Arena in Kutaisi, Italy Under 20 dominated Georgia 43-19 in the semi-final of the 9th-12th place bracket at the World Rugby U20 Championship, booking a place in Saturday’s final against Ireland — one last chance to end a difficult tournament on a high.
A devastating first half: 43 points in forty minutes
Andrea Di Giandomenico’s side started at a pace Georgia simply could not live with: after ten minutes the scoreboard already read 0-19. Jaheim Noel Wilson opened the scoring in the 2nd minute with a pick-and-go finish, Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi added the second off a driving maul on 6 minutes, and on 10 minutes Pietro Celi gathered an offload out wide to complete a superb team try.
Georgia hit back through Temuri Dzodzuashvili on 13 minutes, but it was only a pause. Luca De Novellis dived in at the corner on 15, Celi slalomed through half the defence from halfway on 22, and Wilson powered over again on 25. At 7-40 after 25 minutes the game was effectively over — five tries had been scored inside the first quarter of an hour alone. Gabriel Razmadze’s try for the hosts and a Mattia Andretti penalty on the stroke of half-time made it 14-43 at the break.
A different Italy after the break: defence and sacrifice
The second half told the story of a different but equally convincing team. With Opoku-Gyamfi sin-binned on 46 minutes (illegally collapsing an advancing maul) and Wilson on 63 (illegal defence), the Azzurrini spent long stretches with fourteen men — yet conceded only a single try, scored by replacement hooker Giorgi Agniashvili.
Two moments summed up the resistance: Andretti ripping the ball from number 8 Mikheili Shioshvili’s grasp just as he dived for the line, and captain Riccardo Casarin winning a crucial turnover penalty five metres from his own line on 50 minutes.
Andretti pulls the strings — and Benetton have already called
Five conversions and a penalty added up to 13 points off the tee, but the numbers only tell part of the Mogliano scrum-half’s game. For DanPat he was the conductor of that first half, mixing quick ball and deep kicks to pin Georgia inside their own 22 — and viewers in the live chat noted that scrum-halves like this don’t come along very often. The future is already knocking: Andretti has been named in Benetton’s training squad for the 2026/27 pre-season.
The scrum deserves a mention too: in DanPat’s reading, the Italian pack — with Emiliano Mastropasqua outstanding — made life miserable for the Georgian tighthead, turning the Lelos’ traditional strength on its head. And all of this without David Luisato, ruled out by an injury picked up against New Zealand and replaced by Luca Rossi.
Why does this win matter?
Because it was Italy’s most complete performance of the tournament: after pool defeats to Scotland (32-38) and New Zealand (15-45), the Azzurrini finally put attack and defence together in the same match, dominating the host nation. And it earns them the ninth-place final — the last target left in Georgia.
A complete Italy, a present Italy — an Italy that, quite honestly, dominated Georgia today.
DanPat’s verdict captured the day. The final act comes on Saturday 18 July at 18:30 Italian time against Ireland, who edged Fiji 24-19 in the other semi-final: ninth place is at stake, and with it the send-off for a group mixing first-year players with others we will soon see in the professional game.
Read also:
- Italy U20 fall 15-45 to New Zealand: too many errors
- Italy U20, a bitter World Championship opener: Scotland win 38-32
- U20 World Championship 2026: five players to watch
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