Uruguay eye Canada after defeating Houston Sabercats

The final hurdle for Uruguay was successfully negotiated. A week before facing Canada in Vancouver Los Teros defeated the Houston Sabercats in Texas on Saturday evening. The 32-24 victory has Uruguay match prepared for the vital RWC qualifying on Saturday January 27th.

Los Teros fielded a side with regular players but it was not full strength lineup. The French-based trio of Felipe Berchesi, Rodrigo Capó Ortega, and Agustin Ormaechea are to join the team in Vancouver on Monday.

In place of the trio Los Teros fielded Diego Magno, Santiago Arata and Germán Albanell. All three got their names on the scoresheet against the Houston Sabercats.

It was Germán Albanell who opened the scoring. The fly half landed his first penalty to give Los Teros an early 3-0 advantage.

Uruguay’s strong start quickly saw the South Americans leading by 10 points. Second-rower Ignacio Dotti continued to press for a place in the starting lineup against Canada as he barged over for the game’s opening try. Albanell added the extras.

The Houston Sabercats responded by giving their home supporters plenty to cheer about. A well-taken try from right winger Malacchi Esdale opened their account. Esdale gathered a kick and went over in the corner. The two-time capped Zach Pangelinan landed the conversion from fullback.

Los Teros scored back to restore their 10-point lead. Crossing for the team’s second try was Arata. The scrum-half’s score was converted by Albanell.

The exciting first half took another turn when Pangelinan scored the second try for the Houston Sabercats. The score saw the fullback racing some 90 meters to score after completing a well-taken intercept. Pangelinan’s conversion made it a 17-14 scoreline.

With half time approaching Albanell edged Uruguay three further points ahead. He did so with a well-struck penalty in the 39th minute.

The debate over who should be locking the scrum against Canada would not go away in the match. Following Dotti’s first half score replacement Manuel Leindekar would cross to open the scoring in the second half. Albanell converted to put Los Teros 27-14 ahead.

Pangelinan responded for the Houston Sabercats. His second penalty of the evening reduced the deficit to 10 points. He would also score the final points of the match, doing so as he converted a try from inside center Conor Mills.

Before Mills went over Uruguay had seemingly sealed the result. Crossing for the fourth Teros try was Magno. The second-rower’s score was unconverted but the context of the try for team selection means Uruguay go to Canada with superior second-row options than ever before.

SCORING

HOUSTON SABERCATS 24
Tries – M. Esdale (14′), Z. Pangelinan (31′), C. Mills (80′)
Cons – Z. Pangelinan 3/3 (15′, 32′, 80′)
Pens – Z. Pangelinan 1/1 (46′)
Yellow cards – J. Vici (8′)

URUGUAY 32
Tries – I. Dotti (12′), S. Arata (23′), M. Leindekar (42′), D. Magno (52′)
Cons – G. Albanell 3/4 (13′, 24′, 43′)
Pens – G. Albanell 2/2 (9′, 39′)

TEAMS

HOUSTON SABERCATS
1 Jamie Dever, 2 Diego Maquieira, 3 Adam Macklin, 4 Robert Meeson, 5 Charlie Hewitt, 6 Kyle Sumsion (capt.), 7 Cecil Garber, 8 Pago Haini, 9 Connor Murphy, 10 Sam Windsor, 11 Josua Vici, 12 Conor Mills, 13 Osea Kolinisau, 14 Malacchi Esdale, 15 Zach Pangelinan

Replacements: 16 Lindsey Stevens, 17 Jack Riley, 18 Petey Hepburn, 19 Justin Allen, 20 Chris Parker, 21 Chris Slater, 22 Kieran Farmer, 23 Dan Paul, 24 Chris Milledge, 25 Estevan Florez

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Germán Kessler, 3 Mario Sagario, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Diego Magno, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.), 7 Franco Lamanna, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Santiago Arata, 10 Germán Albanell, 11 Leandro Leivas, 12 Joaquín Prada, 13 Juan Manuel Cat, 14 Gastón Mieres, 15 Rodrigo Silva

Replacements: 16 Matías Benitez, 17 Carlos Pombo, 18 Juan Echeverría, 19 Manuel Leindekar, 20 Rodolfo Garese, 21 Manuel Diana, 22 Nicolás Freitas, 23 Andrés Vilaseca

Attendance: 3,251