Impressive Uruguay down Argentina XV in Final Match before World Cup

Uruguay completed their Rugby World Cup warm-up matches in style. Los Teros were impressive winners at home over the Argentina XV on Friday. The 33-13 win sees Uruguay undefeated with three wins at the Estadio Charrúa in the warm-up series.

Los Teros began by facing Chile. The home side held on to win 26-25 against their year’s RWC debutants. Next up was a preview of a World Cup fixture coming next month in Lyon. Uruguay were better but had a sloppy second-half in their 26-18 victory.

Unlike the prior two matches, Uruguay were solid for the full 80 minutes against the Argentina XV. Los Teros had the better of the Argentina XV in the key areas of the scrum and maul. The maul produced the opening two tries of the contest.

German Kessler bagged an opening quarter double. The Uruguayan hooker threw to the tail of a lineout 7 meters from the Argentina XV try zone. A maul resulted with Kessler breaking off to run over Rafael Iriarte for the score.

The try was unconverted but the damage had been down. Kessler’s score came in the very first minute of play. Argentina XV captain Joaquín de la Vega Mendía responded with a penalty. His second came in the 11th minute to give the Argentina XV the lead for the first, and only, time of the match.

Kessler completed his double in the 17th minute. He again threw to the tail of a lineout and a maul formed. This time the maul advanced to the try zone with Kessler going straight threw the middle for a score. Felipe Etcheverry converted for a 12-6 lead.

Neither team troubled the scoresheet in the second quarter. Instead, the teams felt either other out with play tending to be in the between the 22 meter lines of both teams.

The third quarter was also slow. Scoring resumed in the 54th minute. Peñarol captain Manuel Ardao showed why he could be a break-out star at the World Cup. In addition to often making breaks and showing speedy paced for a flanker, Ardao also has a nose for the try-line in tight play. He scored a pick-and-go under the posts.

Uruguay’s competition for back-row spots on the World Cup roster is tense. Lucas Bianchi is one young player who has given Esteban Meneses plenty of reasons to take-him to France. Bianchi ran an angle to get Agustín Ormaechea’s pass and see off tackles from Eliseo Chiavassa and Juan Pablo Castro to score.

Bianchi’s try put Uruguay 20 points ahead. The Argentina XV needed to work magic to come-back from 26-6 down. A neat set-piece move from a lineout saw Iñaki Delguy rounding off a ry in the right corner.

Uruguay had the final say. Following a strong shove from a scrum, Santiago Álvarez passed left to Felipe Berchesi. The veteran darted inside Julián Hernández to score untouched. Berchesi then converted for a 33-13 final score.

The big day is Monday. Meneses will confirm his roster of 33 players for Rugby World Cup 2023. Uruguay have more depth than ever before. RWC 2023 will be the fifth involving Uruguay but the first wherein Uruguay has a professional rugby team and a fully-professional roster.

 

SCORING

URUGUAY (33)
Try – Kessler 2 (1′, 17′); M Ardao (54′); L Bianchi (57′); F Berchesi (80′)
Con – F Etcheverry 3/4 (18′, 54′, 58′); F Berchesi 1/1 (80′)

ARGENTINA XV (13)
Try – I Delguy (65′)
Con – J de la Vega Mendía 1/1 (66′)
Pen – J de la Vega Mendía 2/2 (3′, 11′)

 

TEAMS

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 German Kessler, 3 Ignacio Peculo, 4 Diego Magno, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Agustín Ormaechea, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Nicolás Freitas, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Tomás Inciarte, 14 Gastón Mieres, 15 Baltazar Amaya

Replacements: 16 Guillermo Pujadas, 17 Matías Benítez, 18 Reinaldo Piussi, 19 Lucas Bianchi, 20 Eric Dosantos, 21 Santiago Álvarez, 22 Felipe Berchesi, 23 Mateo Viñals

ARGENTINA XV
1 Santiago Pulella, 2 Boris Wenger, 3 Javier Corvalán, 4 Federico Lavanini, 5 Lautaro Simes, 6 Efraín Elías, 7 Manuel Bernstein, 8 Rodrigo Fernández Criado, 9 Rafael Iriarte, 10 Joaquín de la Vega Mendía (capt.), 11 Lautaro Cipriani, 12 Luciano González Rizzoni, 13 Juan Pablo Castro, 14 Mateo Soler, 15 Julián Hernández

Replacements: 16 Ramiro Gurovich, 17 Matías Medrano, 18 Renzo Zanella, 19 Lorenzo Colidio, 20 Eliseo Fourcade, 21 Eliseo Chiavassa, 22 Benjamín Grondona, 23 Ignacio Inchauspe, 24 Iñaki Delguy, 25 Benjamín Elizalde, 26 Javier Coronel

MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Caua Ricardo (Brazil) Damian Schneider (Argentina)