Los Pumas overcome yellow-card chaos to topple Italy

MATCH RPORT: Argentina survived three yellow cards to secure a hard-fought 19-14 victory over Italy at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on Saturday, ending their six-Test winless run.

Los Pumas bounce back from their 12-42 defeat to Ireland, producing a brave second-half display to claim their second win of the Nations Championship campaign, despite spending significant periods of the match with fewer players on the field.

The result sees Argentina move into third place in the Southern Hemisphere standings with 11 points, while Italy remain bottom of the Northern Hemisphere table with a one point.

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Bautista Bernasconi, Rodrigo Isgró and Mateo Carreras were the try-scorers for Argentina, while Tomás Albornoz added to conversions.

For Italy Monty Ioane was the try scorers, while the team also was handed a penalty try.

There was no shortage of passion in an entertaining encounter, with the scores level at 7-7 at half-time.

Both sides were desperate for a result, although they arrived in Genoa following contrasting defeats.

For Italy, it was an opportunity to bounce back after their heavy 7-66 defeat to the Springboks. Gonzalo Quesada’s side had struggled to contain the physicality and quality of the world champions but showed considerable improvement against Los Pumas.

Italy made a flying start, taking an early 7-0 lead after exploiting a scrum penalty in the opening minutes.

The Azzurri secured a line-out inside Argentina’s half and made it count, shifting the ball wide before Leonardo Marin’s grubber kick sat up perfectly for Monty Ioane to cross in the left corner. Fullback Tommaso Allan added an excellent conversion from a difficult angle just before the 10-minute mark.

Italy continued to dominate the opening quarter, with Argentina struggling to make an impact. Los Pumas did have a line-out inside the Italian five-metre area, but a superb steal brought their attacking ambitions to an abrupt end.

The game opened up as both sides showed an eagerness to play an expansive brand of rugby.

Argentina made another promising entry into the 22, only for Manuel Zuliani to produce another crucial steal to deny the visitors.

The Italian flanker was influential at both ends of the field, making a strong carry before his side were awarded a penalty. Allan, however, pushed his long-range attempt wide from just inside his own half.

In the 25th minute, Italy had an opportunity to extend their advantage, but an Argentine line-out steal denied the hosts.

Los Pumas’ Tomás Albornoz was handed a yellow card, but despite being a man down, Argentina enjoyed a spell of possession, putting together more than 20 phases, but without finding a way through the Italian defence.

They continued to turn up the pressure and finally broke their duck with just minutes remaining in the half when Bautista Bernasconi powered over from the back of a maul for his first Test try.

Albornoz returned to the field just in time to level matters with the conversion, ensuring the teams went into the break all square.

Argentina thought they had taken the lead when Mateo Carreras dived over the line, but the try was ruled out after referee Nika Amashukeli spotted a knock-on by Simón Benítez Cruz in the build-up.

The visitors, however, remained relentless. Juan Martín González collected the ball from a powerful scrum before a series of quick passes released wing Rodrigo Isgró, who dived over in the right corner to put Argentina ahead.

Italy were then reduced to 14 men, and Argentina took full advantage.

Following another powerful scrum, Justo Piccardo and Mateo Carreras linked up brilliantly before Carreras found a gap in the defence to score and extend the visitors’ lead to 19-7.

The contest returned to 14 against 14 when Argentina also lost a player to the sin bin.

Italy responded by turning to their driving maul, which Argentina struggled to contain. The hosts were awarded a penalty try, while Ephraim Elias was shown a yellow card.

With 15 minutes remaining, it was 14-man Italy against 13-man Argentina, setting up a tense finish.

The hosts enjoyed a spell of sustained attacking pressure, but Argentina’s defence remained resolute as they desperately protected their narrow advantage.

With minutes left on the clock, Los Pumas held a slender five-point lead. Italy were awarded a penalty and opted to kick for touch in search of a potential match-winning opportunity.

However, Paolo Garbisi failed to find touch, handing Argentina a crucial reprieve and allowing the visitors to see out a hard-fought victory.

Player of the match: Manuel Zuliani the flank were in fine form for Italy, making multiple steals and carries.

The scorers:

For Italy:
Tries: Ioane, Penalty try
Con: Allan

For Argentina:
Tries: Bernasconi, Isgró, Carreras
Cons: Albornoz 2

Yellow cards: Tomás Albornoz (Argentina, 28 – deliberate slowing down the ball), Enoch Opoku Gyamfi (Italy, 58 – multiple infringements), Joel Sclavi (Argentina, 62 – illegal maul stop); Efrain Elias (Argentina, 65 – illegal maul stop)

Teams: 

Italy: 15 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 (captain), 1 Danilo Fischetti.
Replacements: 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 (vice-captain), 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 8 Juan Martín Scelzo, 7 Joaquín Moro, 6 Pablo Matera (captain), 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Francisco Moreno, 2 Bautista Bernasconi, 1 Boris Wenger.
Replacements: 16 Facundo Bosch, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Ephraim Elias, 20 Juan Martín González (vice-captain), 21 Facundo Isa, 22 Gonzalo García (vice-captain), 23 Gerónimo Prisciantelli.

Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (England), Morné Ferreira (South Africa)
TMO: Olly Hodges (Ireland)