Wests Tigers fullback James Tedesco comes back from career-threatening injury to score for Italy in Rugby League World Cup win
JAMES Tedesco completes inspirational comeback with a try for Italy in the Rugby League World Cup.
Macarthur
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A SPECTACULAR try for Italy in the Rugby League World Cup on Saturday was the icing on the cake of James Tedesco's inspirational comeback story.
Only 18 months after suffering an almost career-ending knee injury in his NRL debut for the Wests Tigers, the 20-year-old centre helped Italy to a 32-16 win against Wales.
Down 16-14 in the second half, Tedesco sparked an Azzurri comeback at Millenium Stadium, Cardiff, when his eye-catching flick pass handed hat-trick scorer and man of the match Josh Mantellato an easy try.
With 12 minutes remaining, Mantellato returned the favour when he caught a Ryan Ghietti bomb and offloaded to Tedesco for his first international try.
Gold Coast Titans player Mark Minichiello, Sydney Rooster Aidan Guerra and Chris Centrone also scored for the Azzurri.
Tedesco spent the 2012 season recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament he suffered in round one last year against Cronulla Sharks.
His 2013 form at fullback for the Tigers earned him Italy's right centre spot.
The Menangle resident said his first World Cup match was a "great experience".
"The atmosphere was crazy; it was the biggest crowd I've played in front of," Tedesco said.
"It (scoring a try) was a great experience. It was a tough game but we came home strong."
Tedesco said the Italians were confident.
However, they acknowledged the tough pool games.
"I think we're very confident at the moment," he said.
"We beat England (in a warm-up) last week and we've got another win today.
"We've got Scotland and Tonga to come, they're going to be tough games."
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