Italy's Morisi to miss World Cup - Ruck

Italy’s Morisi to miss World Cup

Following the devastating news for Wales that both Rhys Webb and Leigh Halfpenny would not be fit in time to play in the World Cup, yet another casualty has emerged from that fateful warm up game in the form of Italy’s Luca Morisi.

Wales versus Italy was an exciting final World Cup warm up match for both nations, but the aftermath has proved rather costly.

The tight game went right down to the wire but saw two of Wales’ best players stretchered off the pitch. It has now emerged that Italy’s explosive centre Luca Morisi also sustained an injury that has now ruled him out of their World Cup squad.

Morisi suffered medial collateral ligament damage to his knee during that game and whilst it is still unknown how long he will be out of commission, he certainly won’t be fit in time for the tournament.

The 24-year-old back has scored two tries in 16 caps for the Azzurri and his pace and direct rugby would have been an invaluable asset in a tough Pool.
Italian veteran Martin Castrogiovanni had earlier expressed his sympathy for both Halfpenny and Webb, but insisted that it is a price rugby players pay.

“It is part of the game. We need to play these matches. We take the risk.”

“You want to win them, but you don’t want people to get hurt even for that. I went to see Leigh after the match. It looked bad, but hopefully he hasn’t been hurt as bad as it looks.”

“For all the boys the Rugby World Cup is the thing we have trained so hard for. It is so important. I really feel so much for all of the injured players. We had our injuries too, Sergio Parisse, and very early Luca Morisi and later Gonzalo Garcia. I hope they will all be well.”

Unfortunately Morisi won’t be fit, but the aforementioned Gonzalo Garcia is set to return to the setup this weekend as he nears full recovery from an ankle injury.