A shocking mistake on the final play; Italy loses to Argentina as well
The Italian national rugby team’s winless streak continues in the first edition of the Nations Championship: unlike last Saturday’s crushing defeat against South Africa, the Azzurri came very close to a positive result against Argentina, but paid the price for a lapse in the middle of the match and, on the very last play, a glaring error by Paolo Garbisi effectively handed the victory to the Pumas just when it seemed there was an opportunity to lay the groundwork for a comeback from the 14-19 deficit—a score that stood at the final whistle.
Not even a lightning-fast start by Italy was enough; they scored a try in the 4th minute when Monty Ioane made the most of a grubber kick to the left flank by Leonardo Marin. Allan converted for a 7-0 lead. The Azzurri also had other opportunities to score, both from the kicking game and through open play, but Argentina (despite being down to 14 men for 10 minutes starting at the 28-minute mark due to Albornoz’s yellow card) gained ground bit by bit and ended the first half tied, with a try in the 38th minute scored by Bernasconi and converted by Albornoz himself, who had just returned from the sin bin.
The second half began with Argentina once again putting pressure on the Azzurri, scoring twice between the 54th and 59th minutes: Isgro put the Pumas ahead (Albornoz missed the conversion), Carreras extended the lead, and this time the former Benetton fly-half added the two points to make it 19–7. Italy, down a man for ten minutes starting at the 58′ mark due to Opoku’s yellow card, still managed to narrow the gap at the 64′ with a penalty try marred by a foul by the Argentine scrum near the try line, then tries to capitalize on the support of the Genoa crowd to complete the comeback.
With the clock at the 80-minute mark and one final play remaining thanks to a penalty kick in their favor, however, Paolo Garbisi made a costly mistake: instead of kicking the ball out of bounds to earn a lineout near the opponent’s try line, the Italian fly-half misjudged the distance, kicking the ball beyond the dead-ball line and effectively handing the victory to the Argentines—a result that leaves Italy still winless in the Nations Championship, with the now certain prospect of fighting only to avoid finishing last in the competition.
