Uruguay sneak past Brazil in ARC

The opening game of round two of the Americas Rugby Championship has just been completed at the Arena Barueri in São Paulo. The 33-29 win for Uruguay was a showcase of what is possible for the future of rugby when lesser unions are given equal chances.

Two minutes into the game Brazil were ahead. Flyhalf David Harvey was on target with a long-range penalty to give the Tupis a great start. His opposite, Rodrigo Silva, cancelled it out in the 5th minute but three points were nearly seven as Uruguay gained solid ground before being awarded a penalty five metres in front of the posts.

The early points did not stop there as Uruguay were penalized for being offside, enabling Harvey to kick an 8th minute penalty. Uruguay looked to respond quickly but lost control and Los Teros were punished as scrumhalf Lucas Duque cleared to well within the Uruguayan 22.

From the resulting lineout a well-worked maul took Brazil within yards of the try line before resolute Teros defense slowed them down. Well recycled ball from the Tupis, nonetheless, saw them scoring with second row Luiz ‘Monstro’ Vieira crossing. Harvey converted to give Brazil a ten point lead after 11 minutes.

Handling errors continued to let down the visitors, gifting Brazil possession. It resulted in a third penalty attempt for Harvey which he landed to give Brazil a 13 point lead in the 19th minute. Uruguay continued to attack in response only to fail to convert opportunities.

Loose passes and crooked lineouts let them down on numerous occasions. That was until the 30th minute when Brazilian loosehead prop Wilton Rebolo was yellow carded. From the resulting scrum Uruguay pushed Brazil back and the scrum gave way resulting in a clear penalty try. Silva’s conversion made it 16-10 after 33 minutes.

A solid break from Federico Favaro put Los Teros deep into Brazil’s 22 for a second time in as many minutes. After sustained pressure lock forward Franco Lamanna found his way over to make it a one point game. It remained that way following Silva’s wayward attempted conversion with the home side one point ahead at the interval.

Uruguay’s late first half turnaround was a result of controlling possession, 80% of it in the opening half. The scoreline ought to have been far greater but Uruguay finally took the lead for the first time in the 49th minute. Silva’s second penalty, though, was countered by Harvey’s third to return the lead to the Tupis in the 54th minute.

Duque then caught Leandro Leivas out of position with a well aimed box kick which Daniel Sancery gathered and went over. Harvey’s perfect kicking continued to give Uruguay a 26-18 advantage. Silva was not having the same accuracy. His 62nd minute missed conversion kept it at a three point game.

Uruguay’s try by replacement scrumhalf, Santiago Arata came from a lineout and was followed by another, this time from replacement hooker Germán Kessler. Neither try was converted which meant Harvey kicked Brazil back into the lead with ten minutes remaining.

Another off-target kick from Silva retained the scoreline of 29-28 to Brazil with seven minutes left to play. Uruguay’s control of possession saw Brazil driven back though with the forwards doing the hard work and Lamanna going over for his second try of the night. It was the final score in an enthralling contest – one which Brazil truly demonstrated their emerging potential.

Teros captain Alejandro Nieto praised the Tupis in saying “It was very tough, Brazil played well. He continued “Uruguay has a new system which is taking some time to develop.”

Lucas Duque, meanwhile said “We committed too many penalties but it was close. The competition continues, and we will continue training hard and trying our best to perform. Thank you to all the fans at the ground.”

 

SCORING

BRAZIL 29
Tries – L. Vieira (10′), D. Sancery (57′)
Cons – D. Harvey 2/2 (11′, 58′)
Pens – D. Harvey 5/5 (2′, 8′, 19′, 54′, 69′)
Yellow cards – W. Rebolo (30′), M. Jackson (72′)

URUGUAY 33
Tries – Penalty try (32′), F. Lamanna 2 (35′, 74′) S. Arata (61′), G. Kessler (65′)
Cons – R. Silva 1/4 (33′), S. Martínez 0/1
Pens – R. Silva 2/3 (5′, 49′)

 

TEAMS

BRAZIL
1 Wilton Rebolo, 2 Yan Rosetti, 3 Jardel Vettorato 4, Lucas Piero, 5 Luiz Vieira (16 Daniel Danielewicz 71′), 6 Mark Jackson, 7 Cléber Dias (19 Felipe Tissot 60′), 8 João Luiz da Ros (capt.) (20 Nick Smith 49′), 9 Lucas Duque, 10 David Harvey, 11 Lucas Müller (17 Caíque Silva 30′-40′) (22 Laurent Bourda-Couhet 75′), 12 Moisés Duque, 13 Felipe Sancery (21 Mateus Estrela 42′), 14 Guilherme Coghetto, 15 Daniel Sancery

Not used: 18 Vitor Ancina, 23 Yan Machado

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti (17 Facundo Gattas 49′), 2 Carlos Arboleya (16 Germán Kessler 58), 3 Juan Echeverría (18 Ignacio Secco 78′), 4 Franco Lamanna (19 Ignacio Dotti 75′), 5 Diego Magno, 6 Gonzalo Soto Mera, 7 Matías Beer (20 Lucas Lacoste 78′), 8 Alejandro Nieto (capt.), 9 Guillermo Lijtenstein (21 Santiago Arata 58′), 10 Rodrigo Silva, 11 Federico Favaro (23 Alberto Román 58), 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Pedro Deal, 14 Leandro Leivas, 15 Santiago Martínez (22 Martín Secco 78′)

 

Referee: Damián Schneider (Argentina)
Assistants: Xavier Vouga (Brazil) & Henrique Platais (Brazil)

 

Attendance: 3,500