ITA 52-8 NAM: Italy reaction (Cannone, Lamaro head coach Crowley) - REACTION

Lorenzo Cannone, Mastercard Player of the Match

On the importance of a winning start:

"It's an unbelievable feeling to be awarded Player of the Match and winning was very important. It was the best way to get some confidence. It was extremely important for this young team to have both forwards and backs scoring tries."

Michele Lamaro, captain and flanker

On Italy's performance:

"We were 100 per cent ready but still we can improve a few things. Today we went a little bit emotional and that's  normal in a Rugby World Cup - it's the first one for most of us."

On forwards dominating the first half and backs the second half:

"The backs don't always work as they want to, so as forwards we need to step up and in the first half we did that. In the second half, we knew we were fitter than them and we had lots of space and we could play our game."

Kieran Crowley, head coach

On the team's performance:

"If you'd given me 50 points before the game I would have grabbed them. But we turned over about 22 balls and you can't afford to do that. But it was pretty hot out there and the boys are pretty gassed so we'll take it and we'll move on."

On areas to improve on:

"They shut us down in the first half - we've got to be better than we were in that area. There's a whole lot."

On Uruguay:

"We'll prepare exactly the same. They're pretty structured and pretty physical."