'Love, their number 10, it's a yellow:' Italy coach Quesada's tirade after loss to All Blacks

Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada has gone on a tirade after his side’s 47-17 defeat to the All Blacks in Wellington, complaining about a number of calls, the travel and even the weather in Wellington.

The coach labelled the second half as “terrible” after a 15-minute blitz by the home side put the game out of reach of the Italians after a close first half encounter.

Down by only 14-10 at the break, the All Blacks scored four tries and 24 points in the 15 minutes following the resumption of play.

Quesada put part of the blame for the result on the officials, with the coach questioning key decisions including the reversal of the yellow card to Ruben Love, the severity of the red card offence to his lock and a key no try to centre Tommaso Menoncello in the first half.

“We could do much better, as you said. I think in the first 14-16 minutes of the second half, they score like 16-20 points. I don’t remember exactly, but that beginning of second half is terrible,” Quesada lamented post-match.

“And to be totally honest, I think its part of the quality of the All Blacks, part that we were a bit disorganised, and I think it’s also… the score is a bit responsibility of the refereeing team. They did a lot of mistakes today.

“I think that the final score doesn’t reflect completely the game.”

The Italians were the first to score when star midfielder Menoncello burst through an upper body tackle by Proctor for a clean break, before a 1-2 pass with his winger to stun the All Blacks early.

The home side was able to return serve through Sam Darry but it was 7-all when Menoncello had a driving try ignored. Thee referee initially called for a tackle and release as the No.12 was dragged over the try line, before ruling held up. Quesada believed his centre had grounded the ball and scored.

“Our try with Menoncello, when the attacker didn’t release him, after the referee told him to release, was a try,” he said.

It took until the 30th minute for the All Blacks to take the lead, when Leroy Carter, battling through an AC injury, latched onto a Jordie Barrett grubber to provide the first of the night to Will Jordan.

But a superb cameo from Josh Moorby sparked a second landslide, as Italy struggled to contain the All Blacks with a handful of injuries.

“Facing the All Blacks was a test for us, and on our character, on our cohesion, as you said,” Quesada said.

“I think even fitness-wise, it was tough for the guys. We did almost 300 tackles today, so I’m really proud of of the heart of this team.”

The Argentine coach also took exception with the cards issued, with a yellow card to Ruben Love reserved while Italy lock Niccolo Cannone saw his yellow card upgraded to a red following a review.

“I think the 20-minute red card on on our number four, Niccolo Cannone, held up held on the floor by [All Black] 17 and not even seeing it, is a bit harsh,” he said.

“I think the yellow on Love, their number 10. It’s a yellow, and I will stop there because I can continue on. I don’t want to speak about that honestly.”

“It was tough to defend the try where they they allow them to play a quick penalty with two injured players of Italy plus yellow card.

“So it’s terrible to concede more than 40 points in a game like that. It’s tough for, and I never like talking about the referee, but when I see the efforts my players, I want to defend them.

“We were we talked a lot around the week because after losing in Japan, end of the season, a lot of terrible traveling, tough weather in Wellington too.”