Anxious Argentina hold off winless Italy in Nations Championship

In a tense match at the Nations Championship in Genoa, Argentina held off Italy to secure a 19-14 victory on Saturday. Italy, who had never lost to Argentina since 2007, took an early lead with a try scored in the fourth minute. However, Argentina's Leonardo Marin leveled the score shortly after with a well-placed kick that allowed Monty Ioane to score a try for his team.

Argentina dominated the rest of the first half, but their only additional try came two minutes from the final whistle when Bautista Bernasconi found the try line from a maul. The Pumas, who had not lost to Italy since 2007, appeared to be controlling the game territorially around the hour mark. Rodrigo Isgro and Mateo Carreras both crossed the try line for Argentina, with Tomas Albornoz contributing two conversions.

As the match progressed, the Italian team struggled with a series of errors. In the 62nd minute, the Pumas forced a penalty try after lock Efrain Elias was involved in bringing down a maul. Italy continued to press against a 14-man Argentine team but made further mistakes, ultimately resulting in a missed penalty touch kick by fly half Paolo Garbisi as the game ended.

The outcome of the match left Italy with a losing finish in the Northern Hemisphere pool, setting up a final clash against Fiji in Udine on November 21. The result also catapulted Argentina to third place in the Southern Hemisphere pool, overtaking Australia. Argentina will face Northern leaders France in their next match next weekend in Paris.