Uruguay Comfortably Beaten by Spain

Uruguay fell to a 33-16 defeat to Spain at the Estadio Ciudad in Málaga on Saturday. The lackluster effort saw Los Teros come off second best both in the scrum and the loose. It was a scrappy affair that resulted in both Juan Manuel Gaminara and Jaime Nava being sent off in the 78th minute following a mass punch-up. Several scuffles broke out during the match which tested the patience of referee Federico Anselmi and ultimately led to the dismissal of the two captains.

The two kickers exchanged penalties in the opening minutes with Brad Linklater striking first and Jerónimo Etcheverry not far behind. The Uruguayan flyhalf slotted a second after Álvaro Gimeno was sent to the bin for a dangerous tackle, but his team could conjure no more points with the man advantage. Instead it was Spain who took the impetus, with Linklater’s second penalty followed in quick succession by a try to Pierre Barthère. The lanky blindside flanker – forced to wear no19 when his no6 was torn in a minor fracas – barged through a couple defenders before reaching out with his long arm to touch the ball down on the try-line.

Etcheverry nailed his third penalty goal but after some to-and-fro it was Barthère again driving over the line from close range for a critical score just before the break. Linklater’s conversion made it 18-9 and Uruguay were starting to look disjointed already.

A third goal to Linklater saw chins drop and then a first international try for Jordi Jorba came with the winger showing his pace to take the outside. Mathieu Belie’s kick ahead bounced perfectly for Ignacio Contardi to run onto for a fourth Leones try, with a consolation score going to replacement hooker Facundo Gattás. Frustration boiled over in the dying moments of the match with multiple punches thrown by members of both sides, and the captains paid the price.

Los Teros will conclude their difficult tour in Romania on Saturday.

 

SCORING

SPAIN 33
Tries – P. Barthère 2 (23’, 39’), J. Jorba (52’), I. Contardi (61’)
Cons – B. Linklater 2 (40’, 53’)
Pens – B. Linklater 3 (3’, 21’, 44’)
Yellow cards – Á. Gimeno (12’)
Red cards – J. Nava (78’)

URUGUAY 16
Tries – F. Gattás (71’)
Cons – A. Ormaechea (71’)
Pens – J. Etcheverry 3 (8’, 13’, 28’)
Red cards – J. Gaminara (78’)

 

TEAMS

SPAIN
1 Fernando López (16 Joe Hutchinson 66’), 2 Beñat Auzqui (17 Juan Anaya 62’) , 3 Jesús Moreno Rodríguez (18 Xerom Civil 57’), 4 David Berrera, 5 David González (19 Carlos Gavidi 54’), 6 Pierre Barthère (20 Matt Foulds 62’), 7 Gauthier Gibouin, 8 Jaime Nava (capt.), 9 Juan Ramos (21 Facundo Munilla 55’), 10 Mathieu Belie, 11 Jordi Jorba (23 Arturo Iñiguez 70’), 12 Álvar Gimeno (22 Federico Castiglioni 60’), 13 Fabien Perrin, 14 Ignacio Contardi, 15 Brad Linklater

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Carlos Arboleya (17 Facundo Gattás 57’), 3 Mario Sagario (18 Juan Echeverría 57’), 4 Diego Magno, 5 Ignacio Dotti, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.), 7 Franco Lamanna, 8 Gonzalo Soto, 9 Agustín Ormaechea, 10 Jerónimo Etcheverry (21 Guillermo Lijtenstein 64’), 11 Andrés Rocco, 12 Nicolás Freitas, 13 Santiago Gibernau (23 Juan Manuel Cat 64’), 14 Santiago Arata (22 Manuel Blengio HT), 15 Rodrigo Silva

Not used: 16 Ignacio Secco, 19 Diego Ayala, 20 Santiago Hernández

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Federico Anselmi (UAR)
Assistants: Matthew Carley (RFU) & Dan Jones (WRU)