Uruguay Lose in Valiant Effort against Fiji

Uruguay lost in a valiant Effort against Fiji this afternoon in Montevideo’s Estadio Charrúa. Los Teros’ 42-28 defeat in the first of two non-capped internationals between the teams was a solid opening performance.

In winning the Fijians demonstrated their renowned inconsistency as spontaneity was at the forefront of their victory. With ball in hand Fiji was an act of beauty as attacking flair and crisp off-loading opened opportunities which Fiji quickly made into an 8-0 advantage.

Los Teros front-rower Germán Kessler responded with the first of his team’s tries but before too long Fiji was over again and leading by six points. Carlos Arboleya crossed for Uruguay’s second with the South American’s scrum truly expressing superiority. With it Los Teros led 20-14.

Fiji’s explosive abilities did not give in and the Pacific Islanders rebounded to score twice in succession and go ahead 34-14. A try through winger Nicolás Freitas cut the lead but Fiji remained comfortably ahead in a match played under the trialled World Rugby scoring system of six point tries.

Additional tries from either side saw the gamer play out to a 42-28 final scoreline. For Uruguay the fixture was a genuine test of how far Los Teros have come with the implementation of the High Performance Center. The second fixture and the game against the Argentina XV will further clarify Los Teros’ standing.

SCORERS
URUGUAY
Try: Kessler, Arboleya, Freitas, Silva
Conversion: Secco (4)

FIJI
Try: Vularika, Penalty Try, Ucutabua, Raiyala, Ratu
Conversion: Vularika (5)
Penalty: Vularika (2)
Yellow Card: Veitayaki

URUGUAY
1 Facundo Gattas, 2 Germán Kessler, 3 Carlos Arboleya, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Diego Magno, 6 Juan Gaminara (capt.), 7 Gonzalo Campomar, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Guillermo Lijtenstein, 10 Martín Secco, 11 Sebastían Schroeder, 12 Andrés Vilaseca 13 Joaquín Prada, 14 Nicolás Freitas, 15 Rodrigo Silva

FIJI
1 Peni Ravai (capt.), 2 Jale Sessen, 3 Mesake Doge, 4 Joseva Levula, 5 Mataiasi Ucutabua, 6 Johnny Dyer, 7 Mosese Voka, 8 Eremasi Radrodro, 9 Henry Seniloli, 10 Seru Vularika, 11 Nacani Wakaya, 12 Frederick Hickes, 13 Saimoni Tuilaucala, 14 Lepani Raiyala, 15 Cyril Reece