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It was a memorable weekend for Pumas in Europe. There were tries scored by players in the Top 14 and in the English Premiership and additional players kicked goals for their clubs in the United Rugby Championship (URC). All told, it was a weekend to further complicate the picture of who will play for Argentina in 2022; competition is hot for test places.
The Newcastle Falcons were beaten 35-27 on Friday by the Sale Sharks. The result aside, the performance of Pumas Matías Orlando and Mateo Carreras was of note. Both Argentine players ran in tries. The Tucumán players both scored second half tries. Carreras fooled South African RWC 2019 champion Faf de Klerk while Orlando, playing at inside center not outside center, scored on full-time. They will be of interested to Micheal Cheika given that the Falcons will not feature in the English Premiership play-off’s.
There were also two Pumas try scorers for Gloucster against Bath. The match took place on Saturday. In what was, in theory, to be a West-Country classic, Gloucester humiliated Bath in a record-breaking 64-0 victory. Santiago Carreras was both a try creator and a try scorer. Fellow Córdoba Puma, Matías Alemanno was also a try scorer. The performance of Carreras will further the debate as to who is the man to play fly half for Los Pumas.
The Leicester Tigers look like being the 2022 English Championships. The Midlands side is certainly the team to beat in the English Premiership. The Tigers were 56-26 winners over the Bristol Bears on Saturday. The flood of tries included one from Puma Matías Moroni. Playing in his natural position of outside center, Moroni punished an error to score for Leicester.
The play-off’s pixture is very cluded in the Top 14. With two rounds remaining no team has qualified for the play-off’s. Racing 92 want to be involved and their 42-21 away win over Pau on Saturday certainly helped their cause. Rosario speedster Juan Imhoff was a try scorer in the victory.
Click here to see the try.
Castres were 48-13 winners over Biarritz on Saturday. The outcome was mixed fortunes for the Americas as Tomás Cubelli and Evan Olmstead play for Biarritz. The loss sent the club back to the Pro D2. The win featured tries to Puma Benjamín Urdapilleta and Tero Santiago Arata. The try to the Uruguayan was highly noteworthy; there is little question that Arata is the Americas’ best scrum-half.
Click here to see both tries and the match highlights.
Prior to a ball being passed over this past weekend there was also a reputable fixture wherein a Puma was a try scorer. Lucio Cinti scored for London Irish in their Semi Final win over the Leicester Tigers on Tuesday. The result puts London Irish into their first final in two decades.
