Argentina survive late Italy pressure to seal 19-14 victory in Genoa

Argentina resisted a late Italian comeback to win 19-14 in Genoa on Saturday, securing their second victory of the Nations Championship. Reuters reported that the result extended the Pumas' winning streak against Italy to 10 matches, while leaving the hosts with five defeats from five games in the competition.

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The visitors had to recover from an early setback at Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Monty Ioane finished Italy's opening try and Tommaso Allan converted to establish a seven-point advantage. According to the Six Nations match report, Italy controlled much of the opening quarter, using their defence to disrupt Argentina and force errors as the visitors struggled to build sustained attacks.

Argentina also faced a numerical disadvantage before the interval but still found a way back into the contest. Hooker Bautista Bernasconi scored shortly before half-time, with Tomas Albornoz's conversion bringing the teams level at 7-7. The Guardian's roundup reported that Italy had dominated the early stages without turning that advantage into a lead at the break.

The balance shifted after the restart. Rodrigo Isgro put Argentina in front with a second-half try before Mateo Carreras added another, and Albornoz's conversion took the visitors to 19-7. Those scores gave Argentina a 12-point cushion, but Italy's subsequent penalty try reduced the deficit to five and kept the result in doubt into the closing stages.

The Guardian reported that Argentina had to protect their advantage despite yellow cards for Joel Sclavi and Efrain Elias. Italy retained a late opportunity to attack, only for Alessandro Garbisi's last-minute penalty kick to travel beyond the try line. The visitors survived to complete a recovery from their heavy defeat in Ireland the previous week.

Reuters placed Argentina third in the southern hemisphere standings on 11 points after the win, three ahead of Australia before the Wallabies' Sunday match against Scotland. Italy collected a losing bonus point, their first point of the campaign, but remained certain to finish bottom of the northern hemisphere group.