Rugby, Italy against the taboo of Argentina in Udine

Italy versus Argentina: after France, the best that Latin rugby can express. Tomorrow in Udine a match full of entanglements and suggestions, to open the November triptych that will then see the Azzurri engaged Sunday 17th Genoa against Georgia and Saturday 23rd in Turin (Allianz Stadium, home of Juve, in short) against the All Blacks. The All Blacks opened this month of great comparisons - christened the Autumn Nations Series - by winning 24-22 at home against England.

At the end-of-year European test matches, steeped in tradition, all the world's strongest national teams are present. And the highlight of this week already comes tonight with Ireland-New Zealand, i.e. the first and third in the international ranking. A ranking that sees Italy in eighth place, ahead of historical 'greats' such as Australia and Wales, by virtue of last winter's excellent Six Nations.

Argentina, in turn, played the best 'Championship' ever. In the quadrangular between the excellences of the southern hemisphere it scored one defeat and one victory against all three opponents: New Zealand, Australia and world champion South Africa. The Pumas arrive in Udine more than rooted and with a decidedly positive balance against the Azzurri: out of 23 matches, 17 victories, one draw and five defeats, the last of which was 16 (12-13 in Cordoba). And if we look at matches played in Italy, we have not won one since 1998 (23-19 in Piacenza); from 2002 to 2021 the national team hosted the biancocelesti eight times and eight times lost, almost always by a narrow margin.

This time an Argentinian, Gonzalo Quesada, will lead Italy. While Felipe Contepomi, head coach of the Pumas, will find part of his roots in Udine because he has Friulian ancestors. And Nacho Brex, born and bred in Argentina, will be facing two of his Benetton team-mates, Albornoz and Gallo. One of the many players in his team with a surname that recalls Italian emigration to South America.

If tomorrow's opponents - despite having to renounce some quality elements, in particular Kremer and Matera at scrum-half - have long periods spent together in recent months, Quesada must face the first autumn commitment being able to count on the four training sessions done during the week. "It doesn't worry me," he says, "but that's the reality. We played our last game on 21 June in Japan at the end of a very tough tour (victories against the Japanese and the Tonfans, defeat in Samoa, ed) and we are back now. In these days the boys have put in a lot of intensity and will. We know that for the first match some aspects of the game will not be perfect: I'm talking about coordination and automatisms, especially in the phase of possession of the ball. I am counting on the group's ability to compensate with defence, winning, working around groupings. I expect a very balanced game, against a team that has many options, many dangerous players and that knows how to exploit the field in width. We have to be good at putting pressure, not conceding space, otherwise it will be complicated."