hi MikeL2,

Your point about officials reffing Italy at the breakdown was interesting . I wonder if it stems from allowances being made when Italy first entered the competition? They were seen as an amateur team ( and still are by many) and I believe refs often gave them the benefit of the doubt to "keep the game moving".Allowances are still made at times, even though many of their players now play in top teams and know exactly what they are doing. Still, serves us all right for patronising and underestimating them eh?