Uruguay fall to 14-man Romania in Montevideo

Uruguay were defeated 30-22 by Romania in Montevideo on Sunday. A poor opening half saw Los Teros conceding 17 unanswered points, while the visitors overcame an early red card to secure victory in the first of the two-test series.

It was a good start for the visitors. The Oaks pinned Los Teros in the corner and Marius Iftimiciuc stole the throw-in. Kamil Sobota’s offload put Tudor Butnariu through the line and he found Alexandru Bucur in support on his right for the finish.

Felipe Etcheverry had what looked like an easy shot for three points but pushed his attempt wide of the uprights. A head-high shot from Butnariu on Gastón Mieres resulted in the Romanian hooker being sent off, and the Oaks were down to 14 men for the remainder of the match.

Eugan Capatana replaced Johann van Heerden, and the visitors continued to attack Uruguay. Bucur sold a dummy and ripped through the midfield with Rupanu on his right for a second try. The scrumhalf converted his own to make it 14-0 with 20 minutes played.

Los Teros won a kickable penalty but opted for the corner instead. The gamble did not pay off, as Romania turned the ball over. Hinckley Vaovasa chipped and regathered, sending Adrian Apostol racing down the left side. Agustín Ormaechea, who had only just replaced the injured Tomás Inciarte, was binned for cynically stopping the attack and Rupanu knocked over a penalty goal.

Ignacio Dotti and Baltazar Amaya also suffered first half injuries for Uruguay, with Eric Dosantos and Felipe Berchesi coming on earlier than expected. It was Berchesi who finally got Los Teros on the board with a penalty goal just before halftime to make it 17-3 to the visitors at the intermission.

Early in the second half Rodrigo Silva made ground on the right side, and then the ball was flung wide left. Mihai Lamboiu stuck out a hand to disrupt the play and was shown a yellow card to reduce Romania to 13 men for the next 10 minutes. Within moments Santiago Civetta peeled around the short side of a lineout and crashed over for a try. Berchesi couldn’t connect on the conversion attempt from the sideline.

Immediately after the restart Bucur won a turnover at the breakdown to give Rupanu a shot at the posts. From a tricky angle he found his target to push Romania back out to a 12-point lead. It was reduced to just 5 after Manuel Ardao drove in under the posts from close range.

This time the restart worked in Uruguay’s favor. Mieres broke free down the left side, and when the ball came wide right Silva was wide open to score just two minutes after Ardao. Berchesi’s kick was inch-perfect to give Uruguay their first lead of the game.

A line break from replacement prop Gheorghe Gajion put Uruguay back on their heels. Romania won a penalty and opted for the lineout. Matías Benítez was caught in an offside position and the referee issued a yellow card, but the Oaks knocked on at the subsequent lineout drive and Los Teros cleared their lines.

It was only temporary relief. Romania kept the pressure on and Rupanu slotted his fifth successful kick of the game to put the visitors back in the lead. A late try to Eugen Capatana on the back of a lineout drive capped off an impressive showing from the Oaks ahead of next Sunday’s rematch.

 

SCORING

URUGUAY 22
Tries – S. Civetta (49′), M. Ardao (56′), R. Silva (58′)
Cons – F. Berchesi 2/3 (57′, 59′)
Pens – F. Etcheverry 0/1, F. Berchesi 1/1 (38′)
YC – A. Ormaechea (29′), M. Benítez (67′)

ROMANIA 30
Tries – A. Bucur (4′), G. Rupanu (19′), E. Capatana (79′)
Cons – G. Rupanu 2/2 (5′, 20′), V. Popa 1/1 (80′)
Pens – G. Rupanu 3/3 (33′, 52′, 71′)
YC – M. Lamboiu (46′)
RC – T. Butnariu (14′)

 

TEAMS

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti (17 Matías Benítez 64′), 2 Germán Kessler (16 Guillermo Pujadas 57′), 3 Ignacio Péculo (18 Juan Echeverría 77′), 4 Ignacio Dotti (19 Eric Dosantos 20′), 5 Diego Magno (21 Franco Lamanna 64′), 6 Lucas Bianchi (20 Carlos Deus 71′), 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manuel Ardao, 9 Tomás Inciarte (22 Agustín Ormaechea 27′), 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Gastón Mieres, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Nicolás Freitas, 14 Baltazar Amaya (23 Felipe Berchesi 30′), 15 Rodrigo Silva (18 Juan Echeverría 68′-77′)

ROMANIA
1 Vasile Balan (17 Dorin Tica 69′), 2 Tudor Butnariu, 3 Alex Gordas (18 Gheorghe Gajion 59′), 4 Marius Iftimiciuc, 5 Andrei Toader (19 Stefan Iancu 64′), 6 Johann van Heerden (16 Eugen Capatana 15′), 7 Cristi Boboc, 8 Kamil Sobota (20 Alexandru Alexe 71′), 9 Gabriel Rupanu (21 Alexandru Tigla 71′), 10 Vladut Popa, 11 Adrian Apostol (23 Sioeli Lama 45′), 12 Hinckley Vaovasa, 13 Alexandru Bucur, 14 Mihai Lamboiu (22 Jason Tomane 59′), 15 Marius Simionescu (capt.)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Tual Trainini (France)
Assistants: Neheun Jauri Rivero (Argentina) & Tomás Bertazza (Argentina)
TMO: Austin Reed (USA)