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. 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