Paolo Garbisi agonisingly hit the post with a last-gasp penalty as Italy were cruelly denied a famous first-ever Six Nations away win over 14-man France in a pulsating thriller that ended in a 13-13 draw.
The Montpellier fly-half crashed a rushed effort against the upright after the ball had initially bobbled off the kicking tee under the closed roof at Lille’s Stade Pierre-Mauroy late in the shot clock, leaving him precious little time to reset.
Garbisi’s heartbreaking miss means that Italy’s wait for a maiden Six Nations away win in France goes on, while they have not won at all on French soil since all the way back in 1997 and not beaten Les Bleus in any game since 2013.
Their last-gasp 22-21 win over Wales in Cardiff in 2022 remains their sole Six Nations victory since 2015 as they missed out on what would surely have been the biggest upset in the competition’s history on Sunday.
But they did at least end a 14-match losing run against France as they continue to make early strides under the tutelage of new head coach Gonzalo Quesada, the former Argentina fly-half, with Garbisi nailing a tough conversion from wide on the left after Ange Capuozzo’s late try to bring them level in a thrilling finish to a memorable game that closed an exciting round three of the 2024 competition.
France were once again well below par as they likely saw their Six Nations title chances evaporate for this year, playing the entire second half with 14 men after Jonathan Danty’s yellow card on the stroke of half-time for a high tackle with head-to-head contact on fellow centre Ignacio Brex was upgraded to red following a bunker review that found a high-degree of danger and no mitigating factors.
The hosts had dominated the first half with a full complement of players as they had all the possession, momentum, chances and territory, but only one try to show for their efforts after stand-in - and former full-time - captain Charles Ollivon, leading the side in the absence of the injured Gregory Alldritt and Antoine Dupont, who is missing the entire Six Nations to play rugby sevens in the build-up to this summer’s home Paris Olympics, went over from close range amid suspicions of a knock-on.
The on-field decision of try was upheld after a TMO review, with France then quickly pushing their early lead out to 10 points as full-back Thomas Ramos slotted over a penalty earned with some monster physicality from a huge French pack that included first-time Test starter Posolo Tuilagi, the hulking Perpignan lock the nephew of current England international Manu and member of the Tuilagi rugby dynasty.
Despite numerous further opportunities inside the Italian 22, some earned and others gifted, disjointed France just could not convert as they lacked their usual cohesion in attack and they lost starting fly-half Matthieu Jalibert to a worrying-looking knee injury that necessitated a backline reshuffle from head coach Fabien Galthie. France are already playing without injured first-choice 10 Romain Ntamack.
After Danty was shown an initial yellow card by English official Christophe Ridley, refereeing a Six Nations match for the first time, Lyon’s Martin Page-Relo - Italy’s third starting scrum-half in as many games, and, like Capuozzo, born and raised in France - drilled a long-range penalty to get the visitors on the scoreboard at 10-3 before the half-time whistle.
Confirmation of the upgrade of Danty’s yellow card to red came just before the start of a second half in which Ramos made another early penalty to restore France’s 10-point lead at 13-3.
Both sides then struggled for rhythm and fluency amid a raft of substitutions, with the French error and penalty count creeping up as Garbisi split the uprights with a penalty of his own to bring Italy back within a converted try with a quarter of the match still to play.
Italy no doubt sensed that they may never have a better chance to win a Six Nations game on French soil and upped the pressure and tempo late on, fleet-footed Toulouse star Capuozzo finishing in the left corner after a wonderful attacking move and assist from Leonardo Marin.
Garbisi made a difficult conversion, but crucially could not follow suit with his all-important penalty attempt with the clock in the red after another French infringement at the breakdown.
The ball somehow bobbled off the tee as he shaped to strike at goal despite there being no wind under the roof at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, with the shot clock almost expired as he worked to quickly replace it and then arrow a rushed attempt against the right-hand post.
France came away with the rebound, but Yoram Moefana was quickly put into touch to bring the final whistle as Italy were left to rue a costly miss.
They will look to rebound at home to Scotland at the Stadio Olimpico in a fortnight’s time following the second fallow weekend, while an improving young Wales team under Warren Gatland may well be relishing the chance to take on a misfiring French outfit in Cardiff.
