Italy
Argentina
M. Ioane (4'), Penalty Try (64')
Tries
B. Bernasconi (38'), R. Isgro (54'), M. Carreras (59')
T. Allan (5')
Conversions
T. Albornoz (39', 60')
Argentina beat Italy 19–14 in Genoa to claim their second Nations Championship victory, surviving a late penalty try and a spell with 13 men at Stadio Luigi Ferraris. Tries from Bautista Bernasconi, Rodrigo Isgró and Mateo Carreras overturned Italy’s early lead and gave Los Pumas enough breathing room to withstand a tense finish.
For Italy, this was a much more competitive response to their heavy defeat by South Africa, but another afternoon ended with an opportunity missed. Argentina controlled far more of the possession; the hosts stayed within reach without finding the score that would have changed the outcome.
Photo: Argentina players after their 19–14 win over Italy in Genoa on 14 November. Simone Arveda – Nations Championship/Nations Championship via Getty Images.
Ioane gives Italy the early lead
Monty Ioane crossed after four minutes and Tommaso Allan converted to put Italy 7–0 ahead. That early return gave Gonzalo Quesada’s side something to defend, and Argentina’s first-half frustration grew when Tomás Albornoz was shown a yellow card.
The visitors eventually drew level just before the interval. Bernasconi scored in the 38th minute and Albornoz added the conversion, leaving the match tied at 7–7. Italy had made the better start on the scoreboard, but could not turn it into a half-time advantage.
Two tries change the balance
Argentina’s decisive scoring burst came midway through the second half. Isgró crossed in the 54th minute, followed by Carreras five minutes later. Albornoz converted the latter to establish a 19–7 lead.
The timing of those scores mattered. A contest that had remained level through the interval suddenly required Italy to chase two converted tries. Argentina’s replacements were entering the game around that period, adding fresh options as the visitors turned pressure into a tangible advantage.
Control had not always brought a reward. Los Pumas finished with roughly 63 per cent of possession, yet their margin remained narrow enough for one Italian intervention to reopen the match. That is the balance Felipe Contepomi will take from Genoa: enough authority to win away, with plenty still to improve in how that authority becomes points.
Yellow cards invite Italy back
Italy lost Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi to a yellow card before Carreras’s try. Argentina then had Joel Sclavi and Efraín Elías sent to the sin bin, with an Italian penalty try between those two sanctions reducing the deficit to five points.
At 19–14, the game was live again. Argentina had built a cushion and then surrendered much of it through discipline. Italy, however, could not produce another score. The final passage was a test of whether the visitors could protect what they had, and Los Pumas held on.
ATR analysis: control without a comfortable finish
Argentina can take satisfaction from recovering after their defeat in Ireland, but this was no effortless correction. Three tries provided the winning difference; three yellow cards ensured the closing stages were much less comfortable than a 12-point lead had suggested.
For Italy, the frustration is different. The Azzurri showed they could remain competitive and gave themselves a route back into the contest. Once the penalty try arrived, the next attacking possession carried the possibility of a winning score. That possibility never became a result.
The broader lesson is about the value of turning pressure into points. Argentina did enough in a short second-half burst to take control. Italy’s early try and later penalty try kept the score close, but neither was followed by the sustained scoring needed to overturn the visitors’ advantage.
Argentina leave Genoa with the win. Italy leave with their first competition point, earned through the losing bonus, and a fifth defeat from five Nations Championship matches. The performance offered a response; the result still demands another step.