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A dominant first quarter display from New Zealand helped the Junior All Blacks to a big win over Los Pumitas on Tuesday. The round two match of the Rugby Championship u20 was a 43-20 victory for New Zealand.
In round one New Zealand competed to a 13-13 draw against South Africa. Argentina were 25-6 winners in their opening contest against Australia. It means that the competition is wide open with one round left to play.
It was not the greatest performance from Los Pumitas. The short turn-around between matches saw Head Coach Álvaro Galindo opting for player rotation. His side were quickly down and all but defeated long before the half-time mark arrived.
Scrum-half Dylan Pledger and N8 Malachi Wramping scored tries in the opening minutes for New Zealand. The 14-0 scoreline had Los Pumitas catching their breath under the posts wondering how it had all happened so fast.
Mateo Fossati rounded out the opening quarter with a penalty for Los Pumitas. Second-rower and captain Efraín Elías went over for a try but not before Wramping had a second. It all meant that the half-time score was 24-08 to New Zealand.
Impact from the replacements helped Argentina in the second-half. The improved showing still fell short as New Zealand scored more points. While the first-half tries demonstrated flair from backs, and vision from forwards the first second-half score was an old-fashioned lineout to maul.
Replacement Pumitas hooker Juan Manuel Vivas scored in response. He did so with what was also a lineout to maul drive. Momentum was with Los Pumitas; Tomás di Biase got into a half gap and offloaded to Ignacio Torrado for a second try in four minutes.
Los Pumitas did not score again. Pledger did. His second try was from a brilliant set-piece move. In a try reminiscent of the All Blacks, a lineout move saw Pledger scoring 60 meters upfield. His replacement, Ben O’Donovan, also scored from long-range as New Zealand went past 40 points.
The final round of the Rugby Championship u20 will be played on Saturday, May 12. Argentina take-on South Africa while New Zealand face hosts Australia. Regardless of who wins the tournament, it is certain that the team will not have gone undefeated.
| SCORING |
NEW ZEALAND (43)
Try (6) – D Pledger 2 (2′, 63′); M Wrampling 2 (6′, 23′); A Smith (43′) B O’Donovan (67′)
Con (5) – R Simpson 5 (2′, 6′, 24′, 44′, 64′)
Pen (1) – R Simpson (35′)
ARGENTINA (20)
Try (3) – E Elías (28′); JM Vivas (50′); I Torrado (54′)
Con (1) – S di Lucca (54′)
Pen (1) – M Fossati (19′)
YC (1) – L Asevedo (65′)
| LINEUPS |
NEW ZEALAND
1 Will Martin, 2 Vernon Bason (capt.), 3 Joshua Smith, 4 Cam Christie, 5 Liam Jack, 6 Andrew Smith, 7 Matt Lowe, 8 Malachi Wrampling, 9 Dylan Pledger, 10 Rico Simpson, 11 Frank Vaenuku, 12 Tofuka Paongo, 13 Xavi Taele, 14 King Maxwell, 15 Sam Coles
Replacements: 16 Manumaua Letiu, 17 Sika Pole, 18 Kurene Luamanuvae, 19 Tom Allen, 20 Johnny Lee, 21 Ben O’Donovan, 22 Cooper Grant, 23 Josh Whaanga
ARGENTINA
1 Estanislao Rodríguez, 2 Juan Manuel Vivas, 3 Gael Galván, 4 Efraín Elías (capt.), 5 Luciano Asevedo, 6 Julián Rossi, 7 Agustín Sarelli, 8 Juan Pedro Bernasconi, 9 Tomás di Biase, 10 Mateo Fossati, 11 Timoteo Silva, 12 Tomás Medina, 13 Tomás Bocco, 14 Gregorio Pérez Pardo, 15 Benjamín Elizalde
Replacements: 16 Marcos Camerlinckx, 17 Diego Correa, 18 Tomás Rapetti, 19 Alejandro Barrios, 20 Ignacio Torrado, 21 Facundo Rodríguez, 22 Santino Di Lucca, 23 Franco Rossetto
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
Referee: George Myers (Australia)
| MATCH HIGHLIGHTS |
