Gonzalo Quesada
was about to make history in his debut as coach of the Italian rugby team.
The former Puma suffered a minimal 27-24 defeat against
England this Saturday in its debut in the
Six Nations
tournament
held at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
The Argentine coach, who replaced the New Zealander
Kieran Crowley
after the last World Cup, had the support of the public at the Olympic Stadium and the Italians completed a good first half, with two tries scored by Alessandro Garbisi (12) and Tommy Allan (26), who He added another 7 points with his foot, to reach the break with a lead of 17 to 14.
In those first 40 minutes, the English suffered a lot, but stayed in the game thanks to the 11 points scored by kicker George Ford, in addition to Elliot Daly's try (20).
But everything changed after the break: scrum half Alex Mitchell scored the English team's second try (45) and Ford achieved the conversion to put the XV de la Rosa ahead (21-17).
Ford, with two other converted penalties (54 and 67), extended the difference to 10 points to seal the duel, although the Italians continued to fight and Montana Ioane scored a try already in stoppage time (80+4) that allowed the locals not only make up the result, but also the defensive bonus point.
Alessandro Garbisi scored the conversion to leave the final score at 27-24 for the English, who thus placed second in the standings with 4 points, one behind Ireland, which defeated France on Friday in Marseille (38-17) .
Wales, on the brink of a historic comeback against Scotland
In the last match of the first day, Scotland suffered until the last moment to defeat Wales as a visitor at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff by 26-27.
The Scots came to dominate the score by 0-27, but the Welsh experienced a notable reaction until they were one point away from the tie, although they could not beat Gregor Townsend's pupils, who sealed their first victory in Cardiff in 22 years.
Photo: David Davies/PA via AP
Scotland went into the break 0-20 up thanks to two penalties from Finn Russell (m.5 and 22) and two tries from Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe, converted by Russell.
The situation did not change after passing through the locker room and Scotland extended the lead that seemed insurmountable with a new try by van der Merw two minutes after the restart, converted by Russell.
From there, the Welsh, with everything lost and with several changes in their initial formation, launched an "impossible" comeback.
The adventure began with a try, without a subsequent conversion, by James Botham in the 45th, and continued with the support in the goal of Rio Dyer (52) and Aaron Wainwright - best player of the match - (60), this time transformed by Ian Lloyd.
And another try came for the Welsh, the work of Alex Mann and with a transformation by Lloyd that made the fans at the Millennium Stadium believe more.
Photo: REUTERS/Carl Recine
Warren Gatland's team tried until the end, but Scotland gritted their teeth and managed to hold on for their first victory in the tournament.
The Welsh at least added two points, despite the defeat, through bonuses for defeat and converted tries.
Scotland wins its opening match of the Six Nations for the fourth consecutive year, while this Saturday's defeat was the eighth defeat in the last nine games of the tournament for Wales, fifth in a row at home since 2000.