Tries from debutants Pierre Bruno and Epalahame Faiva helped Italy edge a stubborn Uruguay 17-10 in Parma for their first win in two years.
Kieran Crowley’s men got their first Autumn Nations Series win at the third time of asking but were made to work exceptionally hard for it by an incredibly resilient Uruguay outfit.
Winger Bruno, who was in tears during the national anthem, broke the deadlock after 12 minutes but the floodgates never opened as many expected, Faiva’s second-half try cancelled out by Santiago Civetta’s effort for Los Teros.
Uruguay threw everything at the Italians in the final stages in search of a historical victory but the home side held on to end a 16-match losing streak.
Crowley made seven changes as Italy looked to bounce back from defeats to New Zealand and Argentina but fly-half Paolo Garbisi missed what looked a fairly straightforward chance to put the hosts ahead from the tee in the fifth minute.
Italy’s dominance up front had put Uruguay on the back foot and it showed when a rolling maul brought the home side close to the line before Garbisi’s monster miss pass found debutant Bruno.
Wing Bruno still had plenty to do but after jinking past two defenders he slammed the ball down to open the scoring, showing why he was promoted from the Italy ‘A’ side that beat the South Americans last week.
Uruguay got a foothold in the game and Federico Favaro’s well-struck penalty reduced the deficit to 7-3 after Sebastian Negri’s high tackle.
Italy continued to look threatening with the maul and after Uruguay’s impressive blindside flanker Manuel Ardao was penalised for illegally collapsing one, his teammate and scrum-half Tomas Inciarte was sent to the sin bin in the 32nd minute after stopping another ominous drive by coming in at the side.
Uruguay had paid the price for offending in the red zone, but Italy could not capitalise on the scoreboard.
Callum Braley was tackled just short of the line from the resulting five-metre scrum before the visitors pulled off a remarkable turnover to relieve the pressure.
Italy spurned another try scoring opportunity as Garbisi’s pass to Monty Ioane drifted forward and Uruguay gave away their ninth penalty, the Italy fly-half kicked an easy three points to put his side 10-3 ahead at half-time in Parma.
Italy piled the pressure on after the break but in his desperation to score former captain Luca Bigi was penalised for continuing to crawl towards the line after a tackle had been completed off yet another maul.
After Italy swapped their whole front row, the maul try eventually came for another debutant in the shape of replacement prop Faiva with Garbisi’s conversion giving the Italians a 14-point cushion.
Favaro missed a gilt-edged chance to almost immediately reduce the deficit, failing to convert an easy penalty.
But the Uruguayans were not to be denied for long as Civetta bundled over after a sustained period of pick and go pressure on the Italian line.
Replacement Agustin Ormaechea slotted the conversion to bring Los Teros within a converted try heading into the final quarter.
Incredibly, underdogs Uruguay kept coming and only a try-saving tackle from Garbisi on Inciarte prevented the No.9 from going over.
Inciarte attempted to offload but Danilo Fischetti’s early tackle on the support runners saw him sent to the sin bin with five minutes to go.
Uruguay kicked to the corner and attempted to maul over but Italy held firm as the South American forwards then came rumbling around the corner, Faiva making a crucial turnover as the pressure mounted with Italy surviving a huge scare to emerge victorious.
