Los Pumas will look to avoid their eighth defeat in a row when they face off against Italy in the Autumn Nations Cup.
A wounded Los Pumas outfit will be looking to bounce back from last weekend’s defeat to the French when they take on an Italian side that, despite being well and truly beaten, managed to keep it within the handicap against the All Blacks last weekend.
Italy v Argentina
Saturday 13 November
Stadio Comunale Di Monigo
15:00
To Win (80 Mins)
Italy 3/10
Draw 22/1
Argentina 5/2
Handicap
Italy (+7.5) 9/10
Argentina (-7.5) 9/10
The Azzurri gave a decent enough account of themselves against an All Blacks side that has been steamrolling teams for fun since they left New Zealand.
While a mammoth handicap was put on their shoulders, many a punter and journo – myself included – felt the All Blacks would surpass it as the Italians shipped points for fun during the Six Nations. I’ll be the first to admit I was proved wrong as an extremely slow start from the All Blacks and some solid goal kicking from Italian ten Paolo Garbisi left the Italians well within the handicap.
Argentina were also impressive in defeat last weekend as they gave the French real problems up until the final ten minutes of the fixture when the French pulled away courtesy of a try and a penalty. The Argentines almost got back in the game prior to that when a try was ruled out by the TMO for a knock on.
Verdict: Italy (+7.5) 9/10
I expect this to be an ugly old affair. The Argentines looked rather fatigued during the closing stages of last week’s clash which has been a theme for them of late. With the South Americans’ legs likely to falter late on, I’m in the Italian plus camp for this weekend.
