Kieran Crowley pleased with Canada set plays in Italy defeat

Canada coach Kieran Crowley has praised his players for their guile in set plays during this afternoon's narrow Rugby World Cup defeat to Italy.

The Maple Leafs suffered their second straight defeat in Pool D as Italy came through a see-saw contest at Elland Road in Leeds.

Although Crowley was disappointed to see his side not take advantage of more possession and territory, he was pleased with how little joy Italy had at set pieces.

"When the dust settles we will be able to take some positives out of this," Crowley told Sports Mole. "Our set plays were very good, our scrum and our line-out.

"For the majority, apart from one slip-up which cost us big time, we nullified what they brought to the table, so the work we did beforehand bore fruit.

"Our challenge now is to back up (this good performance) in our next two games. We need to get this one out of the way."

Canada had an early 10-0 lead and their failure to capitalise on that means that Italy are the first team since 2007 to come back from a double-digit deficit and win a World Cup match.