Italy fly-half Tommaso Allan has said that the Azzurri had to sweat it out in their Pool D Rugby World Cup victory over Canada.

Italy had less of the ball and had to soak up plenty of pressure before seeing off the Maple Leafs 23-18 at Elland Road in Leeds.

Allan kicked the winning points and told Sports Mole that victory was the most important thing, especially as Italy's last Test triumph was against Scotland in the Six Nations seven months ago.

"A win's a win," Allan, who kicked 13 points, said. "The boys obviously weren't as happy as we could have been. We sweated it out until the end of the game and we're just happy to win.

"We haven't won since February so we're really happy about that and hoping to build on it for the Ireland match."

Italy were 10-0 down in the early stages and their comeback means that they are the first side since 2007 to overhaul a double-digit deficit in a World Cup game.