Fiji edge Uruguay in u20 thriller

Los Teritos opened up their World Rugby u20 Trophy campaign this morning in Harare, Zimbabwe. Uruguay and Fiji contested a back-and-forth thriller in which the Pacific Islanders won 38-34.

Due to it being played under experimental laws the scoreline could have been different. Tries were increased to be worth six points each while conversions, penalties, and drop goals were reduced to two. This saw Uruguay’s first score of the match being of the two-point variety. The ongoing trials are yet to be welcomed by the rugby audience and may take some time.

Los Teritos were ahead 2-0 thanks to Felipe Etcheverry kicking an early penalty. The Fijians hit back with two fabulous converted tries to make it a 14-2 game in no time.

Uruguay looked for a means to get back into the game but did not help themselves when Iñaki Ormaechea was yellow carded. A try through scrumhalf Santiago Arata rounded off a period of Uruguayan dominance and saw Los Teritos leading 16-14 at the interval.

With Fiji forced to play within their own half Los Teritos took control in the second half. A try through winger Guillermo Williamson made it 22-14 before Matías Brignoni followed suit, giving Uruguay a 14 point advantage.

Forced to dig deep Fiji produced a performance to match that of which the senior test side is famous for. Individual talent from the masters of spontaneity saw two tries in quick succession and a 30-28 lead.

In desperate search of a victory, Los Teritos coughed up possession and were made to pay as Fiji scored again to make it 38-28 with time running out. The game was out of reach but Uruguay had the final say, scoring a late try to close out the exciting fixture 38-34.

URUGUAY 34
Tries – Penalty try (34), S. Arata (39), M. Brignoni (54), G. Williamson (63), M. Johnson (79)
Cons – L. Durán (80)
Pens – F. Etcheverry (2)
Yellow cards – I. Ormaechea (24)

FIJI 38
Tries – Kamikamica (8), Tuidraki (14), Waqanacevu (68), Manu (72), Naituvi (77)
Cons – Naqoru 4 (15, 68, 73, 78)
Yellow cards – Uru (68)

URUGUAY
1 Rodrigo Lamé (Agustín Sosa 62) 2 Yamandú Arburúas 3 Gonzalo Couto (Guillermo Pujadas HT) 4 Juan Diego Quintero (Mike Johnson 62) 5 Lorenzo Surraco 6 Agustín Ortas (capt.) 7 Matías Brignoni (Sebastián Pfieff 70) 8 Santiago Civetta (Federico Bruno 70) 9 Santiago Arata (Agustín Della Corte 70) 10 Felipe Etcheverry 11 Guillermo Williamson 12 Iñaki Ormaechea 13 Tomás Inciarte 14 Bautista Mascia 15 Luis Zeballos (Lucas Durán 50)

FIJI
1 Mawi 2 Mokalau (Mario 68) 3 Rabukawaqa (Waqanaceva 60) 4 Seuvou 5 Railala 6 Uru (Tabaiwalu 55) 7 Kamikamica 8 Cokaibusa (Narruhn 8) 9 Lomani 10 Manu 11 Tuidraki (Daroko 60 {Veiseivalu 71}) 12 Savou (capt.) 13 Kalou (Nasalasala) 14 Naituvi 15 Naqoru