Rugby-How Italy's Garbisi went from sleepless in France to euphoria in Rome after tee troubles

Italy flyhalf Paolo Garbisi suffered a couple of serious mishaps with his kicking tee recently, and while one caused him to lie awake at night the other ended with tears of joy. In round three, Italy had the chance to claim their first away win over France in the Six Nations.

Italy flyhalf Paolo Garbisi suffered a couple of serious mishaps with his kicking tee recently, and while one caused him to lie awake at night the other ended with tears of joy.

In round three, Italy had the chance to claim their first away win over France in the Six Nations. The score was 13-13 when Garbisi stood over a penalty in the dying moments. The ball fell from the tee, Garbisi raced to put it back, and with the shot clock running down he rushed his kick which hit the post, although some claimed later it should have been retaken because of French players advancing illegally.

"Honestly, the moment the ball fell my only thought was putting it back on the tee as quickly as possible, I didn't even see the French players, they didn't bother me," Garbisi told Reuters. "I had to hurry but managed to take the kick and once you have the chance to kick there aren't any excuses, you have to put it over."

Garbisi recently signed with Toulon from Montpellier and after the draw with France he joined up with his new club, which provided a welcome distraction from the penalty disappointment. "But at night it was difficult to sleep, the first four or five nights after the game I barely slept, I kept seeing that kick in my head.

"With time, and returning to Italy's camp and preparing for the next game which takes a lot of physical and mental energy, I managed to get past it." The next game brought Scotland to Rome, and unbelievably, in the opening minute last Saturday the ball again fell from the tee.

"I had to laugh because I thought, no it's not possible, there must be someone with a hidden wire knocking the ball off," he joked. "Because, come on, the ball falls on the last kick against France and then the first against Scotland. It's strange but in the end at least that one went well, even if obviously I would prefer to swap the two kicks around.

"Clearly, during the game I must place it badly because before the France and Scotland games, in all the training sessions it had never fallen, so it seems during the game I place it worse." In the end, that early penalty against Scotland proved vital as Italy won 31-29, their first Six Nations win in Rome in 11 years and a second Six Nations success for 23-year-old Garbisi.

Back in 2022, Garbisi kicked a late conversion when Italy defeated Wales 22-21 in Cardiff, ending their run of 36 championship defeats. Both wins mean the world to him, but last weekend's was a little sweeter. "Winning in Rome, at home, is priceless, it's much more beautiful," he said.

"The one against Wales was my first Six Nations win but winning at home has a totally different taste, we haven't won there since 2013, and it was also not since 2013 that we sold out the Stadio Olimpico. "Last weekend, it was sold out and we won again so there's nothing better."

Their win last weekend gave them a rare appearance on the front page of many Italian newspapers. Italy travel to Cardiff to face Wales on Saturday, looking to wrap up their Six Nations campaign in style, which Garbisi says is the only way to grow rugby at home and make front page news on a more regular basis.

"I hope we win more often so that the interest will grow in our sport," he said. "In the end it's a circle, the more you win the more you create interest, and the easier it will be to win again. If we enter into this circle we'll be in the papers much more often."

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