Mallett proud Italy honoured San Siro occasion

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy coach Nick Mallett said he was proud his side had honoured the occasion in Saturday's brave 20-6 defeat by New Zealand in front of a capacity 80,000 crowd at the San Siro stadium.

The Azzurri, who play Six Nations matches in Rome, showed determination and resilience in defence and had the All Blacks on the back foot many times at the home of soccer clubs Inter and AC Milan.

Many in the biggest crowd ever to see a rugby match in Italy also thought his side should have been awarded a penalty try in the closing stages when the visitors collapsed and turned a series of scrums on their line.

"This was a fantastic occasion for Italian rugby. I am proud that this team is the first to play in front of 80,000 people here," Mallett told a news conference.

"The crowd were brilliant, supportive and knowledgeable. They gave us a great boost.

"What was important was that when the players left the field the crowd had a team to be proud of and I think we did that today."

Mallett said he was disappointed his side were not rewarded for their efforts with a try, but added that he respected the referee's decision.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry was impressed by the reception for his side at a game that attracted soccer figures such as Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero, who was cheered by the crowd, and Milan boss Leonardo, who was booed.

"It's mind-boggling that you can get 80,000 people into a stadium for rugby in this part of the world," Henry said. "It's a brilliant stadium and the guys really enjoyed being here."

He was less happy about the way his second-string side equipped themselves.

"The game didn't live up to the billing. There was quite a lot of frustration," he said, having handed debuts to three players in the starting lineup.

"We didn't play as well as we'd hoped. We dropped some balls and I thought Italy played particularly well."

(Editing by Mark Meadows)