Argentina XV dominate Uruguay XV in Buenos Aires

The Argentina XV scored a dominant 64-15 victory over the Uruguay XV at Club Newman in Buenos Aires on Sunday. The match brought a close to the 2018 Sudamericano 6 Naciones ‘A’, the newly revamped South American Championship that saw Brazil score a surprise title after beating Argentina at the same venue just a week before.

As this was only an ‘A’ fixture there were no World Rugby rankings points on the line and no caps were awarded. Uruguay, however, opted to field a test-strength side after resting much of their first choice players in the opening two rounds. The decision did not pay off as Argentina looked prepared while Uruguay were sluggish and out of sync.

A terrific opening saw Gastón Arias touch down with less than 2 minutes on the clock. Juan Manuel Cat replied with a penalty but it was immediately spoiled with another try to Argentina by Rodrigo Bruni after some sloppy ball control in Uruguay’s end. A weaving run from Nicolás Freitas saw the winger cross in the corner and it seemed as though a competitive match would ensue.

Sadly that would not be the case. Uruguay struggled at the set piece and their defense looked in tatters as Argentina ran in three more tries before halftime. Santiago Resino went into the right corner, Bruni got a second from a driving maul, and Arias was put clear for his second.

The second half was equally as disappointing for Uruguay. Arias completed his hat-trick and was followed by single score from Matías Moroni and Manuel Montero. Uruguay would get on the board once more with Mateo Sanguinetti crossing at close range, but the final say went to the home side with Benjamín Macome blasting clean through the line and finally a superb behind-the-back pass from Tomás Cubelli put Lucas Mensa in under the posts.

Argentina finishes in 2nd place while Uruguay slump to 4th after Chile’s blowout win over Paraguay yesterday. Both Argentina and Uruguay will now prepare for the World Rugby Nations Cup which begins on June 2 in Paysandú.

 

SCORING

ARGENTINA 64
Tries – G. Arias 3 (2’, 34’, 47’), R. Bruni 2 (7’, 28’), S. Resino (17’), M. Moroni (53’), M. Montero (57’), B. Macome (73′), L. Mensa (76′)
Cons – J. Díaz Bonilla 5/8 (3’, 8’, 35’, 54’, 58’), T. Granella 2/2 (74′, 77′)

URUGUAY 15
Tries – N. Freitas (9’), M. Sanguinetti (63’)
Cons – J. Cat 0/1, G. Albanell 1/1 (64’)
Pens – J. Cat 1/1 (5’)

 

TEAMS

ARGENTINA XV
1 Nicolás Solveyra (17 Franco Brarda 59’), 2 Diego Fortuny (16 Axel Zapata 64’), 3 Lucas Favre (18 Nicolás Leiva 59’), 4 Jerónimo Ureta (19 Federico Gutiérrez 60’), 5 Ignacio Larrague (19 Federico Gutiérrez 52’-55’), 6 Benjamín Macome, 7 Rodrigo Bruni, 8 Santiago Montagner (20 Santiago Portillo HT), 9 Felipe Ezcurra (capt.) (21 Tomás Cubelli 55’), 10 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla (22 Tomás Granella 64’), 11 Manuel Montero (23 Manuel Bustinduy 55’), 12 Lucas Mensa, 13 Matías Moroni, 14 Santiago Resino, 15 Gastón Arias

URUGUAY XV
1 Mateo Sanguinetti (16 Matías Benítez 67’), 2 Germán Kessler (17 Carlos Pombo 67’), 3 Juan Echeverría (18 Felipe Inciarte 67’), 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Diego Magno (19 Manuel Leindekar 52’), 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.) (20 Juan Diego Ormaechea 64’), 7 Leandro Segredro, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Santiago Arata (21 Tomás Inciarte 67’), 10 Juan Manuel Cat, 11 Nicolás Freitas, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Joaquín Prada (22 Germán Albanell 59’), 14 Leandro Leivas, 15 Gastón Mieres (23 Manuel Blengio 70’)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Henrique Platais (CBRu)