Pierre Berbizier's reign as Italy coach got off to a losing start as they went down to a defeat at the hands of Argentina.
The Italians performed gamely against their hosts in their first match since Frenchman Berbizier took the reins from John Kirwan after the Azzurri won the wooden spoon in the RBS 6 Nations.
However, they never breached the Pumas defence and 18 of their 21 points came from the boot of Gert Peens while scrum-half Paul Griffen contributed a drop goal.
Man-of-the-match for Argentina was Federico Tedeschini with a points haul of 30. He scored a try and kicked seven penalties and two conversions.
The other try for Marcelo Loffredas side was scored by Lisandru Arbizu.
The two teams will meet again in Cordoba next week.