Argentina recovered from a poor first half to win a stagnant encounter against Italy at the Stadio Ferraris in a match played a day earlier than intended. The reschedule might well have worked against both sides, and neither played with any real ambition until it was absolutely necessary. Even without the rain pitch conditions were poor, with divots strewn everywhere from constant scrums and inevitable resets. As such the entertainment was limited to a 10 minute stretch at the finale of each half. Had one slept through the rest, little would have been missed.
Daniel Hourcade experimented with his side after a flat performance against Scotland, and if he found out anything about his alternates it’s that they’re probably not quite up to test rugby just yet. Guido Petti looked undersized and overwhelmed in his second row debut, understandable given that he’s not yet turned 20. Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro had a quiet game. Horacio Agulla was happier on the wing than at centre. Tomás Cubelli and Juan Martín Hernández created the pivotal try for Jerónimo de la Fuente but didn’t do much else.
Italy weren’t too flash either, choosing to play a conservative by-the-numbers game rather than risk anything expansive. Kelly Haimona took advantage of Argentina’s indiscipline to land five penalty goals, four in the first half, but his side never looked like scoring a try while he was on. Luciano Orquera stirred things up in a 10 minute cameo at the death, moving the ball through the hands and finally giving Michele Campagnaro a chance to run after being criminally starved of the ball earlier. Had Sergio Parisse not thrown a needless miss-out pass to Luke McLean when simple hands would have done the job, Italy might have been over for a winning score.
That isn’t to stay that Orquera should be restored to the job. Haimona played well, he stuck to the game plan and was effective when he chose to take on the line. He was fooled by Lucas González Amorosino’s dummy and go, but overall it was a sound performance. It’s just a pity that it took so long for Italy to play with ambition.
It was far from a classic performance but the Pumas will take the win. Fatigue is clearly starting to set in after a long international season, and it’s amazing to think that many of the players now have to report to clubs in France or the UK, but therein lies the rub. Hourcade will have a job on his hands to motivate the troops ahead of the test in Paris. Italy have little sympathy as they roll out the welcome mat for the Springboks in Padova. At least now they have an extra day’s rest to look forward to.
ITALY 18 vs 20 ARGENTINA
Saturday, November 15, 16:15 GMT, Genova
SCORING
03 mins – K. Haimona pen 3-0
11 mins – J.M. Hernández pen 3-3
14 mins – K. Haimona pen 6-3
20 mins – K. Haimona pen 9-3
23 mins – K. Haimona pen 12-3
39 mins – L González Amorosino try 12-8
40 mins – J.M. Hernández con 12-10
49 mins – K. Haimona pen 15-10
58 mins – J. de la Fuente try 15-15
59 mins – J.M. Hernández con 15-17
69 mins – N. Sánchez pen 15-20
73 mins – L. Orquera pen 18-20
ITALY
A. Masi; L. Sarto, M. Campagnaro, L. Morisi, L. McLean (G. Toniolatti 74); K. Haimona (L. Orquera 71), E. Gori (G. Palazzani 71); M. Agüero (A. de Marchi 61), L. Ghiraldini (A. Manici 74), M. Castrogiovanni (D. Chistolini 57); Q. Geldenhuys, J. Furno (M. Bortolami 71); A. Zanni, S. Favaro (F. Minto 57), S. Parisse (capt.).
ARGENTINA
J. Tuculet; L. González Amorosino (M. Moroni 51), H. Agulla, J. de la Fuente (N. Sánchez 45-51), M. Montero; J.M. Hernández (N. Sánchez 61), T. Cubelli (capt.) (M. Landajo 61); M. Ayerza (L. Noguera Paz 65), M. Cortese (S. Iglesias Valdez 57), N. Tetaz Chaparro (R. Herrera 53); G. Petti (L. Ponce 68), T. Lavanini; F. Isa, J. Ortega Desio, L. Senatore.
Referee: C. Joubert (SARU)
Assistants: G. Jackson (NZRU) & I. Davies (WRU)
TMO: S. McDowell (IRFU)
