Argentina XV Power Past Uruguay

The Argentina XV powered past Uruguay this evening, winning 57-12. Played in front of a strong attendance in Bahía Blanca the Argentina XV Backing-up from defeating Canada the result makes the Argentina XV well-placed to win the tournament.

The Argentina XV tested Uruguay early on. A break from Julían Domínguez got them into an attacking position in Uruguay’s 22. Scrum half Sebastián Cancelliere gained further ground to go within meters of the try line. Uruguay, though, held firm and turned the ball over.

With 10 minutes gone Uruguay were yet to play in the opposition half. Yet it was Los Teros who opened the scoring. 2016 u20 scrum half Santiago Arata broke clear in the 13th minute. He ran from inside his half to score under the posts. Fly half Germán Albanel added the conversion.

Three minutes later The Argentina XV equalized. Cancelliere took advantage of a penalty to take a quick tap and cross from five meters out. Domingo Miotti slotted the conversion. Miotti’s second opportunity was unsuccessful, a 22nd minute penalty sailing wide.

Ill-discipline from Uruguay saw Mateo Sanguinetti yellow carded. Playing with one man down Los Teros conceded their second try. The try scorer was again Cancelliere. Like his first, try number two was a flash back to Pumas scrum halves of the past. Cancelliere attacked from the base of a scrum, running his way through Teros forwards to score. Miotti missed the conversion attempt.

A 28th minute scrum infringement from Uruguay cost them further. Miotti kicked for the corner, enabling the forwards to set up a driving maul. Recycled ball found its way to Miotti who scored near the left corner. His attempted conversion was again wide.

Uruguay continued to lack possession and territory. Excessive tackling opened up opportunities for counter-attacking. In the 35th minute Promising fullback Bautista Delguy broke clear. Having gotten into the Uruguayan 22 quick ball saw hooker Marcelo Brandi scoring. Mitt’s kicking was on target this time.

Trailing 24-7, Uruguay looked to end the half with points. Getting into the Argentine half they were using width and speed. Smart work, though, from Tomás de La Vega saw the Argentina XV securing the turnover. It was his second of the opening half, pleasing news for Daniel Hourcade.

Early in the second half Uruguay’s Super Rugby player, Nicolás Freitas showed his value. A break down the left wing saw him offloading to Juan de Freitas who scored for Los Teros. Albanel’s difficult conversion was off-target but the lead had been cut to 24-12.

In response Cancelliere underlined his potential once again. Ball off the top of an attacking lineout was passed to him from Lautaro Bavaro. The move sent the scrum half over untouched. Miotti added the extras.

Uruguay were well behind on the scoreboard but two tries away from a bonus point. The mission was complicated in the 52nd minute when Nicolás Freitas was yellow carded for challenging in the air. Replacement Santiago Montagner took advantage by running down the right flanker, scoring where Freitas would have been.

The 29°C heat was hard for a tiring Uruguay to counter. Playing outside center Los Pumas 7’s star Santiago Alvarez jinxed his way through the defense to score. Having missed his first attempt, Tomás Granella made no mistake with his second. Fellow Olympian Fernando Luna crossed next, doing so in the 70th minute. Luna converted his own try from the touchline.

A clean break from Montagner saw the 2016 u20 flanker scoring his second. Luna’s conversion saw full time called by referee Kurt Weaver.

Post match Los Teros captain Alejandro Nieto noted post match “against Argentina, without the ball we cannot play”. With rest a better result can be targeted in Punta del Este against Brazil next weekend. The Argentina XV face Chile in Santiago.

 

SCORING

ARGENTINA XV 57
Tries – S. Cancelliere 3 (16’, 24’, 48’), D. Miotti (28’), M. Brandi (35’), S. Montagner 2 (55’, 79’), S. Álvarez (59’), F. Luna (69’)
Cons – D. Miotti 3 (17’, 36’, 49’), T. Granella (60’), F. Luna 2 (70’, 80’)

URUGUAY 12
Tries – S. Arata (13’), J. de Freitas (46’)
Cons – G. Albanell (14’)
Yellow cards – M. Sanguinetti (22’), N. Freitas (53’)

 

TEAMS

ARGENTINA XV
1 Francisco Ferronato (17 Eduardo Bello 60’), 2 Marcelo Brandi (16 Axel Zapata 52’), 3 Santiago Medrano (18 Alejo Brem 62’), 4 Pedro Ortega (19 Franco Molina 54’), 5 Ignacio Larrague, 6 Mariano Romanini, 7 Lautaro Bavaro (capt.), 8 Tomás de la Vega (20 Santiago Montagner 52’), 9 Sebastián Cancelliere (21 Lautaro Bazán 54’), 10 Domingo Miotti (22 Tomas Granella 52’), 11 Julián Domínguez, 12 Juan Cappiello, 13 Santiago Álvarez, 14 Segundo Tuculet (23 Fernando Luna 60’), 15 Bautista Delguy

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti (16 Facundo Gattas 60’), 2 Martín Espiga (17 Matías Benítez 62’), 3 Juan Echeverría (18 Felipe Inciarte 57’-72’), 4 Ignacio Dotti (19 Diego Ayala 62’), 5 Diego Magno, 6 Rodolfo Garese, 7 Gonzalo Soto (16 Facundo Gattas 23’-32’), 8 Alejando Nieto (capt.) (20 Manuel Diana 43’), 9 Santiago Arata (21 Guillermo Lijtenstein 52’), 10 Germán Albanell (22 Lucas Durán 60’), 11 Francisco Berchesi (23 Ignacio García 27’), 12 Juan de Freitas, 13 Juan Manuel Cat, 14 Nicolás Freitas, 15 Rodrigo Silva

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Kurt Weaver (USAR)
Assistants: Damián Schneider (UAR) & Santiago Altobelli (UAR)

 

Attendance: 6,000