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RWC 1999 was officially Wales 1999, yet the five pools were each played in different nations. In the case of Pool A this meant Scotland. The northern British nation hosted a group consisting of Scotland, South Africa, Spain and Uruguay.
The tournament marked the RWC debuts for Spain and Uruguay. Their first match was against each other in the humble setting of Galashiels in the Scottish borders.
The match was won by the South Americans by a 27-15 margin. It came by Los Teros scoring four tries to zero. However, this was not a fixture dominated by one team. To the contrary, it was a 17-15 scoreline with three minutes remaining.The crucial moment in the game was the try by fullback Alfonso Cardoso.
From 42 meters out Cardoso ran on an angle to get around Spanish fullback Miguel Angel Frechilla Manrique. Spain were unable to get cover defense in time which saw Cardoso over for the try. Four years later, Cardoso would be back playing in a RWC. He would also score a crucial try, this time in the win over Georgia in Sydney, Australia.
