Russian rugby players made many mistakes against Italians

The Russian national rugby team made "way too many mistakes" during its second match at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand's Nelson, team's center Alexey Makovetskiy said. Russia suffered a 17-53 defeat to Italy on Tuesday, with the uncompromising Azzurri exploiting the Bears' weak forward play and consigning them to their second straight defeat at their debut Rugby World Cup. "Everyone played as best as they could, but it turned out as it turned out. We had many penalties - five or six in the opening minutes of the match. This is not how it is supposed to be," said Makovetskiy, the author of one of Russia's three tries during the game. He said the team was initially concentrating on the defense in their encounter with the Italians. "Perhaps, some of us burnt out and perhaps some had too much energy," Makovetskiy said. The Bears remain bottom of Pool C after an opening 13-6 defeat to the United States. Russia's next test comes against Ireland, surprise victors over Australia last week, in Rotorua on Sunday.