Spain Battle Past Uruguay in Madrid

Spain battled past Uruguay in Madrid on Saturday, winning 33-24. Los Leones were fast out of the blocks and held a 24-0 lead late in the first-half. Uruguay fought back to be 30-24 down inside the final 10 minutes. Uruguay’s comeback appeared unlikely but had Spain defending their lead and ultimately the result was not confirmed until Gonzalo Vinuesa landed a 77th minute penalty.

Los Leones quickly went about scoring points. Following a 1st minute penalty on center Felipe Arcos Pérez, Spain scored the game’s first try. Spain used width with Gauthier Minguillón scoring in the left corner. The penalty was puzzling for Uruguay; communication problems could be blamed as Arcos Pérez did not understand the non-Spanish speaking referee’s words nor his decision.

Gonzalo Vinuesa missed the sideline conversion. His opposite, Ignacio Álvarez, was off-target with his first opportunity at points too. Uruguay missed out on three points in the 12th minute. Vinuesa set-up Spain’s second try on 18 minutes. He combined with Kerman Aurrekoetxea who assisted Martiniano Cian to score down the right corner side.

Uruguay went close to scoring in response. A lineout to maul move had Los Teros within inches as the TMO confirmed that grounding was not conclusive. Los Leones got out of their danger zone and then scored an impressive try. Cian kicked over for Aurrekoetxea to pounce inside the try zone.

The goal-kicking drought ended as Vinuesa converted though he missed a penalty from half-way late in the half. Spain subsequently ended another promising Uruguayan attack before scoring a spectacular try from a lineout move. The long throw ended with Aurrekoetxea scoring under the posts.

Down 24-0, Uruguay had a happy ending to the half. Los Teros scored a push-over penalty try. From a lineout to maul move, Uruguay advanced over 20 meters before Spain were penalized for infringing.

Uruguay’s strong finish continued oil the second-half. Los Teros matched Spain’s 2nd minute try with a 42nd minute score. Following a penalty, Guillermo Pujadas scored from a lineout to maul charge. Ignacio Álvarez converted and suddenly it was 24-14.

Spain did not threaten to score a try in the second-half; indeed, both second-half tries went to the South Americans. Los Leones kept the scoreboard ticking over via Vinuesa’s boot. The Spanish no 10 landed three second-half penalties while Ignacio Álvarez landed one.

Felipe Aliaga’s 59th minute try made it 27-21 with a quarter of the match remaining. Vinuesa and Álvarez exchanged penalties before El León put Spain nine points clear in the final minutes.

Both Spain and Uruguay will play again next weekend. Los Leones take-on Fiji in Valladolid while Uruguay travel to France to take-on Japan in neutral territory. Spain is looking for a sell-out against the Rugby World Cup 2023 Quarter Finalists in the rugby stronghold. Both matches will be played on Saturday, November 16.

 

SCORING

SPAIN (33)
Try (4) – G Minguillón (2′); M Cian (18′), Aurrekoetxea 2 (27′, 38′)
Con (2) – G Vinuesa (28′, 39′)
Pen (3) – G Vinuesa (54′, 63′, 77′)

URUGUAY (24)
Try (3) – Penalty Try (40′); G Pujadas (42′); F Aliaga (59′)
Con (3) – No Kick (40′); I Álvarez (42′, 60′)
Pen (1) – I Álvarez (77′)

 

LINEUPS vs

SPAIN
1 Bernardo Vázquez, 2 Santiago Ovejero, 3 Jon Zabala (capt.), 4 Ignacio Piñeiro, 5 Imanol Urraza, 6 Vicente Boronat, 7 Ekain Imaz, 8 Raphael Nieto, 9 Kerman Aurrekoetxea, 10 Gonzalo Vinuesa, 11 Martiniano Cian, 12 Alvar Gimeno, 13 Iñaki Mateu, 14 Gauthier Minguillón, 15 Alberto Carmona

Replacements: 16 Álvaro García, 17 Thierry Futeu, 18 Lucas Santamaría, 19 Pablo Guirao, 20 Álex Saleta, 21 Tani Bay, 22 Álex Alonso, 23 Pau Aira

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Ignacio Peculo, 4 Felipe Aliaga, 5 Manuel Leindekar (capt.), 6 Santiago Civetta, 7 Lucas Bianchi, 8 Carlos Deus, 9 Santiago Álvarez, 10 Ignacio Álvarez, 11 Bautista Basso, 12 Juan Manuel Alonso, 13 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 14 Mateo Viñals, 15 Baltazar Amaya

Replacements: 16 Joaquín Myszka, 17 Diego Arbelo, 18 Mateo Perillo, 19 Ignacio Dotti, 20 Manuel Diana, 21 Joaquín Suárez, 22 Ícaro Amarillo, 23 Juan Gonzalez

 

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

 

MATCH OFFICIAL

Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)