Argentina eventually see-off Italy in scrappy affair in Genoa

Italy’s response to last week’s 66-7 Nations Championship humbling by South Africa ultimately came up just short as Gonzalo Quesada’s side fell 19-14 to Argentina in Genoa, but there was enough fight on show to suggest the Azzurri are heading back vaguely in the right direction.

The home side made all the early running and struck inside four minutes when Leonardo Marin produced a delightful grubber kick for Monty Ioane to gather and score in the corner. Tommaso Allan added an excellent touchline conversion and Italy looked comfortably the better side despite Argentina enjoying plenty of possession.

Much of that was down to the outstanding Manuel Zuliani. The flanker was everywhere during the opening exchanges, repeatedly bailing Italy out with breakdown steals deep inside his own 22. One turnover became two, then three, as Zuliani turned into an absolute menace for the Pumas.

Italy’s scrum was also causing serious problems. Danilo Fischetti and Simone Ferrari got on top of Boris Wenger and Francisco Moreno, while Federico Ruzza pinched lineout ball and Niccolò Cannone carried hard through the middle.

Yet for all their territorial dominance, Italy only had seven points to show for it. Marin impressed with ball in hand and an interception, Paolo Odogwu produced some meaty collisions, but chances repeatedly went begging.

Argentina finally made Italy pay just before the break. Guido Petti disrupted the Italian lineout, Pedro Rubiolo and Pablo Matera dragged the visitors into the contest, and a catch-and-drive score levelled matters at 7-7 going into half-time.

The second half belonged largely to the Pumas. Tomás Albornoz began pulling the strings, Mateo Carreras and Rodrigo Isgró found space out wide, and Argentina’s six visits into the Italian 22 yielded enough points to build a 19-7 advantage.

To Italy’s credit, they refused to fold. Sustained pressure eventually brought a penalty try on 65 minutes, with Cannone unlucky not to be awarded the score himself.

A late fightback followed from the home side, but Paolo Garbisi’s botched final-play touchfinder with the game hanging in the balance let Argentina off the hook.

Italy: Tommaso Allan, 14 Ange Capuozzo, 13 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Leonardo Marin, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Ross Vintcent, 5 Federico Ruzza, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Giacomo Nicotera (c), 1 Danilo Fischetti, 16 Gianmarco Lucchesi, 17 Muhamed Hasa, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, 20 Alessandro Ortombina, 21 Samuele Locatelli, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Federico Mori

Argentina: 15 Bautista Delguy, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 13 Justo Piccardo, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 8 Juan Martín Scelzo, 7 Joaquín Moro, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Francisco Moreno, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Boris Wenger, 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Thomas Gallo, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Juan Martín González, 21 Gonzalo García, 22 Santiago Pernas, 23 Simón Benítez Cruz Jr.