Brazil complete stunning comeback to defeat Argentina XV

Brazil shocked the Argentina XV on Saturday afternoon with a stunning 36-33 come-from-behind victory in Buenos Aires. The half-time score saw the Tupis trailing by 33-3. It’s the first time ever Brazil has defeated an Argentine representative side at senior men’s level.

Coming off a dominant display against Chile, Brazil made it 2-0 in the Sudamericas 6 Naciones ‘A’. Today’s win was not against Los Pumas but the Argentina XV. As such it was not a test match.

The final scoreline was highly impressive. An amazing second half performance saw Brazil keeping the Argentina XV scoreless while coming back from a 30-point halftime deficit. The score at the break was not altogether surprising. In prior years it has been the norm and a 60-point victory loomed as plausible.

The early signs for Brazil were positive as fly half Josh Reeves landed an penalty to give them a 3-0 lead. Yet it would be the only points until after half time as the Argentina XV dominated.

Led by the combative Benjamín Macome the Argentina XV pack found holes in the Brazilian defense. The Jaguar would score two opening half tries while wingers Manuel Bustinduy and Francisco Liotta would both provide the finishing touches to strong work from the home side’s forwards.

Captain Lautaro Bavaro would also score an opening half try. In total the five scores gave the Argentina XV a commanding 30 point half time lead. Little did the home supporters at Club Newman know but Brazil were set to shock the Argentina XV to make history.

Brazil’s second half effort showcased vastly improved defense. The Argentina XV were also guilty of not finishing off when they should have. Santiago Resino had a try scoring opportunity down the left side. Had he put in the extra effort then he likely would have scored.

Instead all the scoring came from the men in yellow. It occurred with Felipe Contepomi emptying his bench. The replacements were not up to the required level and a hungry Brazil made them pay dearly in a twenty minute meltdown from Contepomi’s team.

A dominant scrum gave Brazil a perfect platform to attack and led to a double for Michael Moraes with singles from João Luiz da Ros and Ariel Rodrigues. With the Tupis now trailing by only four points it made for a thrilling finish.

In the final play with 79 minutes gone Brazil had an attacking scrum. Five meters out the Tupis used the set piece to send a warning to Argentina for years to come. Having won a penalty a quick tap saw ‘Ige’ get close to the line and Arthur Bergo was there to finish it off. The team jumped for joy with Reeves sending the conversion through the posts.

[EDIT: ARN initially incorrectly reported the final try as scored by da Ros. It was in fact Bergo.]

 

SCORING

ARGENTINA XV 33
Tries – M. Bustinduy (10’), B. Macome 2 (14’, 26’), F. Liotta (19’), L. Bavaro (30’)
Cons – J. Díaz Bonilla 4/5 (15’, 20’, 27’, 31’)
Yellow cards – B. Espinal (73’)

BRAZIL 36
Tries – M. Moraes 2 (58’, 66’), J. da Ros (63’), A. Rodrigues (73’), A. Bergo (80’)
Cons – J. Reeves 4/5 (59’, 64’, 67’, 80’)
Pens – J. Reeves 1/1 (2’)

 

TEAMS

ARGENTINA XV
1 Franco Brarda (18 Felipe Arregui 48’), 2 Diego Fortuny, 3 Benjamín Espinal, 4 Benjamín Macome (19 Nahuel Milán 52’), 5 Federico Gutiérrez, 6 Mariano Romanini (20 Rodrigo Fernández Criado 52’), 7 Lautaro Bavaro (capt.) (16 José Luiz González 67’), 8 Santiago Portillo (17 Julián Martín 64’), 9 Tomás Cubelli (21 Gregorio del Prete 64’), 10 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla (22 Juan Cruz González 52’), 11 Francisco Liotta (23 Facundo Ferrario 52’), 12 Nicolás Cantarutti, 13 Santiago Resino, 14 Manuel Bustinduy, 15 Tomás Videla

BRAZIL
1 Lucas Abud (18 Matheus Rocha 68’), 2 Yan Rosetti (capt.), 3 Jardel Vettorato (17 Wilton Rebolo 45’), 4 Lucas Piero, 5 Gabriel Paganini, 6 Arthur Bergo, 7 João Luiz da Ros, 8 Matheus Claudio (20 Michael Moraes 31’), 9 Lucas Duque (21 Will Broderick 70’), 10 Josh Reeves, 11 Ariel Rodrigues, 12 Moisés Duque, 13 Felipe Sancery, 14 De Wet van Niekerk, 15 Lucas Tranquez

Not used: 16 Endy Willian, 19 Caíque Silva, 22 Rafael Morales, 23 Valentin Garcia

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Joaquín Montes (URU)