Italy aren't happy with their 48-point destruction of the United States, conceding that their handling wasn't good enough to compete with Fiji, who they will face next week in their final pool game of the World Cup.
Despite losing to Ireland last week, Italy coach Cameron Ciraldo was confident his side had shaken off the loss through the week and would fire on all cylinders against the USA, who have never been accused of playing with anything less than 100 per cent effort in their losses to Fiji and Italy.
"Massive improvement, probably in all areas, we've still got a lot to work on before we play Fiji next week, but it'll be a lot happier in the dressing room than it was last week," Ciraldo said.
"The way they trained the last three sessions gave me some real confidence going into today but obviously after a tough loss… you're always a bit uneasy about how it's going to go the week after."
"For them to turn it around is a big credit to the players out there today and the whole squad who contributed to today's win."
Five-eighth James Tedesco had an excellent game in a relatively new position for him, and his coach commended his focus on his own role.
Tedesco played smart and patient, never over-playing his hand and was rewarded with two tries, while his kicking game worried the United States for 80 minutes.
"I thought [Tedesco] was really good… I thought he was really patient when he went out there, he was really calm and had some classy touches," the coach said.
Captain Mark Minichiello was pleased with the improvement his side showed, but concedes consistency will be key if they're to continue to challenge through the World Cup.
"We fixed out our start this week… we've still got to work on our completions for next week, we dropped far too much ball and if we do that against Fiji it's not going to work in our favour," Minichiello said.
Italy now have a short turnaround as they take on Fiji in Canberra on Friday night.
