Italy winger Paulo Odogwu sent a message to England after the rejected speedster scored a stunning try on his World Cup debut.
The Azzurri secured a 52-8 bonus-point win against Pool A opponents Namibia at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Étienne on Saturday.
Back-row forward Lorenzo Cannone scored the first of their seven tries after Namibian hooker Torsten van Jaarsveld was shown a yellow card. Fly-half Paolo Garbisi also went over and a penalty from full-back Tommaso Allan gave Italy a 17-8 half-time lease, with Gerswin Mouton having crossed for Namibia.
Italy dominated the scoreboard in the second half with tries from second-row Dino Lamb, wing Ange Capuozzo, hooker Hame Faiva, back-row Manuel Zuliani and centre Odogwu.
One fan wrote: “Paolo Odogwu has shown the kind of pace, power, and directness that England are sorely lacking”
Another said: “I wouldn’t want to tackle that Italian #22 Odogwu. He’s an absolute beast!”
A third wrote: “Odogwu sent a message to England there. He is a quality player.
“Paola Odogwu is looking awfully good for Italy. Wild to think he didn’t crack it with England,” wrote a fourth.
Another added: “Odogwu, more like Quadogwu”
Foreign-born players in the 2023 Rugby World Cup:
Update 04/09/23 – This article was first published on 30/08/23, and has since been updated with research by Americas Rugby News.
POOL A
NEW ZEALAND (9)
Ethan de Groot – Australia (Prop)
Neto Laulala – Samoa (Prop)
Ofa Tu’ungafasi – Tonga (Prop)
Tyrel Lomax – Australia (Prop)
Samisoni Taukei’aho – Tonga (Hooker)
Shannon Frizell – Tonga (Back Row)
Finlay Christie – Scotland (Scrum Half)
Leicester Fainga’anuku – Tonga (Winger)
Emoni Narawa – Fiji (Winger)
FRANCE (2)
Paul Willemse – South Africa (Lock)
Uini Atonio – New Zealand (Prop)
ITALY (12)
Ivan Nemer – Argentina (Prop)
Hame Faiva – New Zealand (Hooker)
David Sisi – Germany (Lock)
Dino Lamb – England (Lock)
Sebastian Negri – Zimbabwe (Back Row)
Toa Halafihi – New Zealand (Back Row)
Martin Page-Relo – France (Scrum Half)
Stephen Varney – Wales (Scrum Half)
Juan Ignacio Brex – Argentina (Centre)
Paolo Odogwu – England (Winger)
Monty Ioane – New Zealand (Winger)
Ange Capuozzo – France (Fullback)
URUGUAY (1)
Baltazar Amaya – Argentina (Fullback)
NAMIBIA (1)
Tiaan De Klerk – South Africa (Lock)