The Pumas ended their year on a win over the Azzurri in a terrible match at the Stadio Olimpico, with both sides happier kicking the ball instead of passing it.

ITALY 14 vs 19 ARGENTINA
Saturday, November 23, 14:00 GMT, Rome

It must be frustrating to be a fan of either of these two teams, and even more so to be a winger. One can argue that the strength of both sides is in the forwards, so it’s best to keep the ball there most of the time, but to what end? Argentina took a step backwards in the Rugby Championship this year and Italy have been up to their same old tricks. Where is the ambition?

Certainly the weather was uncooperative with the rain making for a sloppy day, but the sorry display of rugby, surely the worst of the weekend, must have had the fans in attendance wishing they had stayed home and played a few hands of scopa. Bad passes, poor decision making, silly penalties, it was a match best forgotten by all parties involved.

Juan Imhoff’s try was a brief highlight, but it came from poor midfield defense as Nicolas Sanchez went through a gap that was half the size of Sicily. The lone Italian effort was a cross-field kick from Tommaso Allan that caught Santiago Cordero isolated against three Azzurri attackers. The remaining scores all came from the boots of Allan and Sanchez.

The Pumas will be glad to get a win, whatever the method, and happier still that the year is finally over after some dreadful results and an unexpectedly rushed coaching restructure. On the plus they have blooded some promising new players, with a couple more hopefully coming down the pipeline next year. Felipe Contepomi and now Julio Farias Cabello have called it a day, and perhaps some others should be nudged in that direction as well.

Italy haven’t had it much better. After beating France and Ireland in the Six Nations it looked like they might be on to something, but they were crushed by Samoa and were poor throughout November, scraping by a terrible Fijian side and offering little against Australia. To top it off they have now lost two leading centres, Luca Morisi and Gonzalo Canale, for the foreseeable future with Canale stretchered off in the final minute with a broken leg. It appears more tough times are in store for Italian supporters.

SCORING
05 mins – T. Allan pen 3-0
18 mins – T. Allan pen 6-0
21 mins – J. Imhoff try 6-5
22 mins – N. Sanchez con 6-7
24 mins – T. Allan pen 9-7
33 mins – N. Sanchez pen 9-10
54 mins – N. Sanchez pen 9-13
61 mins – M. Campagnaro try 14-13
67 mins – N. Sanchez pen 14-16
73 mins – N. Sanchez drop 14-19

CARDS
61 mins – M. Ayerza yellow (team infringements)

ITALY
L. McLean; G. Venditti, M. Campagnaro, G. Canale (T. Benvenuti 79), T. Iannone; T. Allan (L. Orquera 65), E. Gori (T. Botes 72); M. Rizzo (M. Aguero 65), L. Ghiraldini (D. Giazzon 72), M. Castrogiovanni (L. Cittadini 65); Q. Geldenhuys (J. Furno 72), V. Bernabo (M. Bortolami 55); A. Zanni, R. Barbieri, S. Parisse (capt.).

ARGENTINA
J. Tuculet (S. Cordero 57); L. Gonzalez Amorosino, H. Agulla, G. Ascarate (J. Rojas 71), J. Imhoff; N. Sanchez, M. Landajo (T. Cubelli 66); M. Ayerza, E. Guinazu, M. Bustos; M. Carizza (T. Lavanini 75), M. Galarza; J. Farias Cabello (P. Matera 61), J.M. Leguizamon (capt.), B. Macome (N. Lobo 66-71).

Referee: C. Pollock (NZRU)
Assistants: G. Clancy (IRFU) & J.P. Doyle (RFU)
TMO: G. Simmonds (WRU)