LILLE, France (AP) — Italy flyhalf Paolo Garbisi hit the post with a last-gasp penalty to let 14-man France off the hook in a tense 13-13 draw in the Six Nations on Sunday.
Garbisi had the chance to give Italy the biggest win in its history and its first away to France in the Six Nations.
The goalkick was barely more than 30 meters out and slightly to the left for the left-footer. With the shot clock on, the ball wobbled off the tee with 14 seconds left. Garbisi hurried to put the ball back in place and finally kicked it with four seconds to go. It smacked off the right upright.
Garbisi held his head in his hands. His apology followed.
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“I should have been up to the task of doing this job, I didn’t do it well enough in this moment,” he said on French television. “I didn’t do (my job) properly. That’s why I would like to say sorry to my teammates and my country.”
Italy’s only win on French soil was in 1997, predating its entry in the Six Nations.
But the draw will do wonders for Italy’s confidence, especially after it was crushed by France 60-7 in October in Lyon during the Rugby World Cup.
“It’s a good result but winning is better,” Garbisi said. “It will stay in my mind for a while.”
France should have buried Italy by halftime. It dominated the first spell but converted only one try chance of at least four as Italy defended superbly. Italy made 112 tackles in the half, more than twice as many as France.
But France started the second half only 10-3 up and a man down after center Jonathan Danty’s yellow card was upgraded to red during the break. He committed a dangerous head-on-head tackle of opposite Juan Ignacio Brex at the end of the first half.
France also lost flyhalf Matthieu Jalibert moments beforehand to a knee injury, forcing a backline shuffle. Fullback Thomas Ramos went to flyhalf, replacement Yoram Moefana to the wing, and wing Matthis Lebel to fullback.
The French couldn’t click in the second half and Italy’s confidence grew. The home side added only a second Ramos penalty.
France has failed to fire since it crashed in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals against eventual champion South Africa, and the heat on the team and coach Fabien Galthié will only rise. France stayed fourth in the Six Nations with games to come against Wales away and England at home.
“When you don’t win it’s not positive,” Galthié said. “Often within the players when you don’t win it can be a crisis.
“Right now, a loss at home (to Ireland), a win in Scotland, a draw with Italy, not the expected results. It’s a difficult, painful moment.”
France replacement hooker Julien Marchand said, “I can’t explain what went wrong, and it’s better if I don’t speak because I might say something stupid.”
Italy’s second penalty kick of the game by Garbisi after Marchand infringed, restored a seven-point deficit with 20 minutes left. Italy, which had lost three scrums, held the put-in against seven Frenchmen on its own 22 and attacked.
Right winger Tommaso Menoncello smashed through the middle and within five phases they were in the France 22. Replacement flyhalf Leonardo Marin offloaded brilliantly to fullback Ange Capuozzo to touch down in the left corner. Garbisi converted from the touchline to even the score with 10 minutes to go, only to miss the biggest kick of his career.
“It was gutting to see that hit the post,” Italy No. 8 Ross Vintcent said.
The first half didn’t portend a France slump.
Stand-in captain Charles Ollivon barged over in the seventh minute. Injured regular skipper Gregory Alldritt showed his team spirit by bringing the tee for Ramos’ conversion and next penalty kicks.
But France would be let down by 16 handling errors.
“We should have scored three or four tries in the first half,” France center Gaël Fickou said. “It’s frustrating.”
France could easily be without a win in the tournament. It beat Scotland at Murrayfield two weeks ago only after the TMO couldn’t verify a last-seconds try by the Scots.
“We expected to beat Italy,” France defense coach Shaun Edwards said. “We had all the ball in the first half, total domination. In the second half, total opposite. Credit the Italy defense. They were on the goal-line getting underneath the ball. They were fantastic.”
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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
