Pumas grind out 19-14 win over Italy after late yellow cards in Nations Championship

GENOA, Italy -- Argentina notched its first win since July only after it labored past Italy 19-14 in Nations Championship rugby on Saturday.For most of an error-filled, stop-start match the Pumas enjoyed three-quarters of the possession and territory but kept turning it over to an Italy side that also struggled to use the ball. Discipline was poor — there were 32 penalties, split evenly.It was 7-7 at halftime and Argentina led for the first time in the 55th minute then quickly made it 19-7. However, two yellow cards dropped the Pumas to 13 men and a penalty try to Italy gave the home side hope.Italy had a last-minute penalty and aimed for a corner lineout but flyhalf Paolo Garbisi kicked it dead and the Azzurri couldn’t steal a first win against Argentina in 18 years.“We put our heart and soul into it and played to win but we made mistakes that are unacceptable at this level,” Italy coach Gonzalo Quesada said.“I have a lot of faith in this team, almost more than they do themselves. We gave Argentina a poor performance. I’m proud of our response but we could have won it, and this feeling of unfinished business remains.”Italy has lost six straight since beating England in Rome in March. Next weekend comes Fiji, also winless in the championship.Argentina has finally ended a five-game winless run, and goes to title-chasing France next.“What we improved was our connection and cohesion compared to last week (lost to Ireland 42-12), especially during the worst moments of the match,” Argentina coach Felipe Contepomi said.“We also minimized unforced errors but there are still too many for the international level. I think we're on the right track. It wasn’t as spectacular a victory (over Italy) as in the past, but the team's character was spectacular and admirable.”Italy started brilliantly, running the short side from halfway and winger Monty Ioane charging onto a grubber kick by center Leonardo Marin to score in the fifth minute. White-helmeted flanker Manuel Zuliani turned over the Pumas twice in his 22 and Tommaso Allan just missed a 51-meter penalty kick attempt.Popular ReadsBut then the Pumas dominated the rest of the first half, even with flyhalf Tomas Albornoz in the sin-bin, with little to show. Their scrum conceded three penalties and they kept coughing up ruck penalties in Italy's 22. The Pumas even went 23 phases but crashed against the Italian wall.Italy didn't crack until near halftime when a Pumas driving maul carried hooker Bautista Bernasconi across in his first test start in place of injured skipper Julian Montoya.The second-half action was little better in the Genoa sunshine until the Pumas, in their 11th time in Italy's 22, worked an overlap try for right winger Rodrigo Isgró.Replacement lock Enoch Opoku-Gyamfi, on the field for four minutes, was sin-binned for Italy's accumulating offenses and Argentina struck immediately when left wing Mateo Carreras scored from an inside pass off a scrum.Argentina finally looked clear and safe. But yellow cards to forwards Joel Sclavi and Efrain Elias and the penalty try to Italy made for a tense last 15 minutes.Italy lost a fifth throw-in, though, couldn’t pin the Pumas back, and suffered a 10th straight loss to Argentina.___See AP’s full rugby coverage here