Argentina XV overcome Uruguay ‘A’ to win APC

The Argentina XV are the 2021 Americas Pacific Challenge champions after defeating Uruguay ‘A’ 24-17 at the Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo on Saturday evening. The seven point win saw the Argentina XV coming-back from a 10-7 half-time deficit.

Despite trailing at half-time, it was the Argentina XV who scored first. Jaguares XV utility back Gerónimo Prisciantelli provided a support run and had good speed to get past the Uruguay ‘A’ defenders as he went into the try zone near the left corner flag.

Juan Zuccarino made it a 7-3 scoreline with a 19th minute penalty. Uruguay ‘A’ followed it up with their opening try. The 23rd minute score saw a try two phases after lineout to maul attack. Loose head Santiago Bonasso charged ahead to put Uruguay ‘A’ close for flanker Lucas Bianchi scored from a pick-and-go.

The Argentina XV’s response took some time; it came in the second half as two tries in the third quarter set the team on course for victory. First, Martín Bogado gathered a long pass from Martín Elías to score down the right side. Second, the lineout and maul combination was started and finished by Mariano Muntaner.

Prisciantelli added a late penalty to be up 24-10 with just over 10 minutes remaining. Uruguay ‘A’ ended the scoring with Felipe Aliaga touching down in the try zone. He appeared to lose control of the ball before grounding it but the try stood.

Players from both teams are in the frame for places in the 2022 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). Many from Uruguay ‘A’ will play for Peñarol while the Argentina XV players could feature for not only Los Jaguares XV but also teams from the remaining franchises in the league.

 

SCORING

URUGUAY 17
Tries – L. Bianchi (23′), F. Aliaga (76′)
Cons – J. Zuccarino 2/2 (24′, 76′)
Pens – I. Álvarez 0/1, J. Zuccarino 1/1 (18′)
YC – F. Etchegorry (29′), E. Faccennini (52′), J. Vilaro (69′)

ARGENTINA 24
Tries – G. Prisciantelli (7′), M. Bogado (47′), M. Muntaner (56′)
Cons – M. Elías 3/3 (8′, 48′, 57′)
Pens – G. Prisciantelli 1/1 (69′)

 

TEAMS

URUGUAY ‘A’
1 Santiago Bonasso (18 Mateo Perillo 50′), 2 Guillermo Pujadas (16 Emiliano Faccennini 50′), 3 Faustino Etchegorry (17 Ignacio Péculo 48′), 4 Lucas Piriz (19 Felipe Aliaga 50′), 5 Juanjuan Garese (capt.) (21 Juan Diego Vilaro 54′), 6 Lucas Bianchi, 7 Federico Dibueno (20 Sidney Werner 28′-40′), 8 Carlos Deus, 9 Santiago Álvarez, 10 Juan Zuccarino, 11 Baltazar Amaya (17 Ignacio Péculo 29′-39′), 12 Santiago Gervaz (2 Guillermo Pujadas 60′-62′), 13 Felipe Arcos Pérez (22 Santiago Percivale 63′), 14 Mateo Viñals (23 Bautista Basso HT), 15 Ignacio Álvarez

ARGENTINA XV
1 Nicolás Revol (17 Nicolás Toth 69′), 2 Mariano Muntaner (16 Boris Wenger 76′), 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss (18 Gonzalo Hughes 78′), 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 5 Rodrigo Fernández Criado, 6 Jerónimo Gómez Vara (19 Lucio Anconetani 71′), 7 Joaquín Moro (v 62′), 8 Conrado Roura, 9 Joaquín Pellandini (21 Rafael Iriarte 63′), 10 Martín Elías (22 Santiago Vera Feld 63′), 11 Juan Pablo Castro (23 Francisco Pisani Caride 59′), 12 Santiago Mare, 13 Tomás Cubilla (capt.), 14 Martín Bogado, 15 Gerónimo Prisciantelli

 

MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Cauã Ricardo (Brazil)
Assistants: Tomás Bertazza (Argentina) & Matías Esteban (Uruguay)
TMO: Francisco Pesce (Uruguay)