Argentina XV Hammer Brazil in Tierra del Fuego

The Argentina XV hammered Brazil in Tierra del Fuego this evening. The Comprehensive 79-7 saw Brazil overpowered as it rained tries at the bottom of the world. The fixture saw history made with rugby played at the southern most city in the world.

Ushuaia hosted international rugby for the first time. Played at the Estadio Agustín Pichot, the venue provided a picturesque setting for the match and also a lot of wind. Those in attendance were treated to some excellent rugby from the home side.

The opening minutes, though, were that of a hard-fought match. Brazil put everything in early, competing to a 22-7 half time scoreline. At one stage Brazil was 7-5 ahead as Moisés Duque scored and converted for Os Tupis. The try would be Brazil’s only one of the match while the Argentina XV would run in twelve.

The first from the home side came from Sebastián Cancelliere. The young scrumhalf continued his strong campaign for the Argentina XV. Solid option taking and a impressive skill set saw Cancelliere shine. Following on from Gonzalo Bertranou’s fine performance for Los Jaguares it gives Argentina reason to feel confident about depth in the position.

The Argentina XV reclaimed the lead through Domingo Miotti. The Tucumán flyhalf landed his first, and only, penalty of the match. His goal kicking would not be very accurate in Ushuaia but it mattered not as few handling errors enabled the Argentina XV to turn possession into territory and points.

Loosehead prop Franco Brarda scored the second Argentina XV try. It came following a strong run from Germán Schulz. The winger ran over De Wet van Niekerk before offloading to Brarda who scored near the posts.

The Argentina XV would score once more in the opening half. It came through Tomás de la Vega who scored his first of two tries in the match. Playing again at no8 the former Puma showed his class to win a penalty at a breakdown. With Miotti kicking for the corner, de la Vega would then score from the third phase after an attacking lineout.

The second half did not start well for the Brazilians. Captain Nick Smith was yellow carded for a late hit on Miotti. The one man advantage saw the Argentina XV punishing Brazil.

Hooker Marcelo Brandi scored from the resulting lineout, dotting down at the back of a rolling maul. The try would quickly be followed by a second, this time from de la Vega. With it Brazil was visibly tired and yet still had 22 minutes left to play.

A mistake from Felipe Sancery was pounced upon by Schulz. The winger intercepted and ran from half way to score under the posts untouched. Cancelliere scored next, doing so three minutes later. His try came following a break from Emiliano Boffelli who offloaded brilliantly to the scrumhalf.

Boffelli is expected back for Los Jaguares shortly. The Argentine Super Rugby franchise are in need of more outside backs and, based on the evidence in Ushuaia. Boffelli will add plenty. Another Super Rugby player featuring today was Ignacio Larrague. The big second row would score next, seeing the Argentina XV cross the 50 point mark.

Additional tries came from replacements Juan Cappiello and Lautaro Bazán. The latter of the two crossed for a double in the final 10 minutes.

The result sets up a tournament defining match against the USA. The Eagles defeated Chile earlier in the day to retain their unbeaten campaign. The Argentina XV will have home advantage against the USA next weekend in Patagonia.

 

SCORING

ARGENTINA XV 79
Tries – S. Cancelliere 2 (3’, 55’), F. Brarda (18’), T. de la Vega 2 (36’, 49’), M. Brandi (43’), G. Schulz (52’), I. Larrague (61’), E. Boffelli (66’), J. Cappiello (69’), L. Bazan 2 (73’, 79’)
Cons – D. Miotti 3 (19’, 37’, 50’), T. Granella 4 (53’, 56’, 67’, 70’), E. Boffelli (74’)
Pens – D. Miotti (11’)
Yellow cards – S. Medrano (58’)

BRAZIL 7
Tries – M. Duque (5’)
Cons – M. Duque (6’)
Yellow cards – N. Smith (13’), G. Paganini (42’), J. da Ros (77’)

 

TEAMS

ARGENTINA XV
1 Franco Brarda (17 Facundo Gigena 51’), 2 Marcelo Brandi (16 Gaspar Baldunciel 51’), 3 Alejo Brem (18 Santiago Medrano 45’), 4 Pedro Ortega (19 Franco Molina 60’), 5 Ignacio Larrague, 6 Mariano Romanini, 7 Lautaro Bavaro (capt.), 8 Tomás de la Vega (20 Rodrigo Bruni 60’), 9 Sebastián Cancelliere (21 Lautaro Bazán 60’), 10 Domingo Miotti (22 Juan Cappiello 51’), 11 Franco Cuaranta, 12 Tomás Granella, 13 Segundo Tuculet, 14 Germán Schulz, 15 Juan Cruz González (23 Emiliano Boffelli HT)

BRAZIL
1 Wilton Rebolo (18 Pedro Bengaló 78’), 2 Yan Rosetti (16 Daniel Danielewicz 75’), 3 Caíque Silva (17 Vitor Ancina 28’), 4 Gabriel Paganini, 5 Diego López (19 Lucas Piero 48’), 6 João Luiz da Ros, 7 André Arruda, 8 Nick Smith (capt.) (20 Matheus Daniel 48’), 9 Matheus Cruz, 10 Josh Reeves, 11 De Wet van Niekerk (23 Robert Tenório 20’), 12 Moisés Duque, 13 Felipe Sancery (21 Luan Smanio 71’), 14 Ariel Rodrigues, 15 Daniel Sancery

Not used: 21 Beukes Cremer

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Claudio Cattivelli (URU)
Assistants: Damián Schneider (UAR) & Pablo De Luca (UAR)

 

Attendance: 3,500