Allowing nine tries in a 53-17 loss Tuesday to Italy can provide quite a rugby lesson.

Russia missed tackles, gave away nine of the 10 penalties in the first half and conceded a penalty try for repeated scrum infractions.

To add injury to insult, Russia captain Vladislav Korshunov limped into the news conference with the recurrence of a leg injury he picked up during the team's four-match tour of England in August. He wasn't sure whether it was a bruise or a tear.

Korshunov was asked whether English referee Wayne Barnes had tapped him on the shoulder in the first half to let him know where he and his teammates were going wrong.

"No, and in my opinion the referee did well," Korshunov said through a translator. "I think the Italian team was so strong, and it was only the second time we had played in the tournament. Italy has a very strong scrum and so we had a lot of infringements, but it was a very good experience." Korshunov also said the Russians were nervous.

"It was our tactic to focus on possession, we didn't want to lose the ball as many times as we did," Korshunov said. "We wanted to focus on the set-pieces, too, but we committed too many errors.

"In the second half, we played better, and we even planned to score a fourth try and get a bonus point. We had a good attack but lost the ball just meters from the tryline. It just didn't work out." Something that did work out — at least according to coach Nikolay Nerush — was his decision to to replace starting scrumhalf Alexander Shakirov with Alexander Yanyushkin with 12 minutes left in the first half.

Russia conceded the penalty try a minute later and trailed 38-7 at halftime, but Nerush was pleased with Yanyushkin's form considering the scrumhalf injured his Achilles' tendon in April. The team has taken a go-slow approach to his recovery.

"Yanyushkin is a very experienced player but it has taken him many months to recover, so I am very glad he played tonight," Nerush said.

"We didn't want to risk his condition and make him play from the very beginning, but when the circumstances in the game changed we decided to play him. He made the game faster and even scored a try." Russia backs coach Henry Paul of England gave a slightly different explanation for the change.

"It was a new combination from the changes in midweek and we realized that the combination was not working early on," Paul said. "The scrums were going backwards, but we managed to hold our own in this environment. It is a learning curve and we need to take the positives as much as we can from it." Nerush or Paul didn't say whether Yanyushkin would be the starting scrumhalf when Russia plays Ireland at Rotorua on Sept. 27. Russia plays its fourth pool match on Oct. 1 against Australia back here at Trafalgar Park.

Chances are Russia will come into those games with a better impression of what it takes to stay competitive. Nerush, for one, will be impressing upon his team what went wrong on a long, chilly night in Nelson.

"We played nervously, committed many fouls and made a lot of mistakes," he said. "The game was lost at halftime."