Argentina slice through USA in dominant win

Los Pumas closed their Rugby World Cup 2019 campaign on a high as they blitzed the USA in a dominant display of running rugby at Kumagaya on Wednesday afternoon. A final score of 47-17 left no room for debate as to who was the best team in the Americas, a stark reminder of the distance the Eagles have yet to travel to challenge their South American rivals.

The opening quarter was tense as the Eagles largely controlled possession. For all their endeavor they did not come away with points, however, with mistakes as key times letting the Pumas off the hook. Gaps in the line on consecutive kicks ahead were exploited, the second time leading to the opening try for Nicolás Sánchez that came against the run of play.

A second try came in no time. An offside penalty cost the USA territory, and then poor positioning let a chip kick hit the ground and roll in-goal. Joaquín Tuculet beat Mike Te’o to the touchdown and the Pumas were 14 points up.

More indiscipline cost the Eagles another five points. The Pumas tied in the defense from the lineout and then went wide where Tuculet was in space. He slipped under the high tackle of Paul Lasike and slid over the line for his double, and the Eagles were now three scores behind with just a couple minutes to go before the half.

Somehow they would conjure the much-needed try just when they needed it most. Bautista Delguy was pinged for an early tackle, negating an Argentine attack, and the field position put the Pumas on the back foot. After Lasike made a burst, AJ MacGinty poked the ball into the corner and Blaine Scully won the race for a vital try.

The second half could hardly have started worse for the USA. While they gained possession, a turnover allowed Delguy to race away from his goal-line to halfway. The phases built until a hard line from Juan Cruz Mallía put the center in untouched under the posts. Within four minutes he was at it again, taking an offload in from 40 meters.

Jerónimo de la Fuente would be on the end of another line break before the Eagles finally got a second score. The driving maul was stopped short but Lasike muscled his way over with MacGinty landing the routine conversion.

Los Pumas would get one more score from replacement scrumhalf Gonzalo Bertranou with the backs starting to slip through gaps at will. The final say would go to the USA, however, with Scully left wide open on the right side to score his second try on full-time.

Argentina’s tournament has now come to an end, and with it the test careers of some including Juan Manuel Leguizamón. They will be disappointed with their Quarter Final miss but pleased to end on a high. The Eagles will need to regroup after an effort that fell well short of expectations. They will close out their contribution to RWC 2019 on Sunday against Tonga.

 

SCORING

ARGENTINA 47
Tries – N. Sánchez (19’), J. Tuculet 2 (24’, 35’), J. Mallía 2 (44’, 48’), J. de la Fuente (56’), G. Bertranou (71’)
Cons – N. Sánchez 5/6 (20’, 25’, 45’, 49’, 57’), B. Urdapilleta 1/1 (72’)

USA 17
Tries – B. Scully 2 (39’, 80’), P. Lasike (60’)
Cons – A. MacGinty 1/2 (60’), W. Hooley 0/1

 

TEAMS

ARGENTINA
1 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro (17 Mayco Vivas 53’), 2 Julián Montoya (16 Agustín Creevy 53’), 3 Santiago Medrano (18 Enrique Pieretto 53’), 4 Guido Petti (20 Tomás Lezana 58’), 5 Matías Alemanno, 6 Pablo Matera (capt.) (19 Marcos Kremer 50’), 7 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 9 Felipe Ezcurra (21 Gonzalo Bertranou 57’), 10 Nicolás Sánchez (22 Benjamín Urdapilleta 61’), 11 Santiago Carreras, 12 Jerónimo de la Fuente (23 Matías Moroni 61’), 13 Juan Cruz Mallía, 14 Bautista Delguy, 15 Joaquín Tuculet

USA
1 Eric Fry (17 Olive Kilifi 49’), 2 Joe Taufete’e (16 Dylan Fawsitt 49’), 3 Titi Lamositele (18 Paul Mullen 49’), 4 Nate Brakeley (19 Ben Landry 57’), 5 Greg Peterson, 6 Tony Lamborn (20 Ben Pinkelman 57’), 7 Hanco Germishuys, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Ruben de Haas (21 Nate Augspurger 59’), 10 AJ MacGinty (23 Martin Iosefo 72’), 11 Marcel Brache, 12 Paul Lasike (23 Martin Iosefo 2’-8’), 13 Bryce Campbell, 14 Blaine Scully (capt.), 15 Mike Te’o (22 Will Hooley 49’)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Paul Williams (New Zealand)
Assistants: Jaco Peyper (South Africa) & Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)

 

Attendance: 24,377