Uruguay battered and humbled by Fiji

Uruguay were battered and humbled by Fiji today, falling to a 68-7 defeat. The heavy loss saw the Pacific Islanders running in tries with ease, punishing any Uruguayan defensive error or lost ball.

Fiji’s men were too big, too fast and too skilled. The combination proved deadly as they ran in 10 tries and Ben Volavola had his finest performance in a Fijian shirt, landing 9 conversion.

Clermont flanker Peceli Yato started with a hat-trick while debutant Eroni Sau matched him with three tries of his own. The performance is a warning ahead of RWC 2019, not only for Uruguay but also for fellow Pool D teams Australia, Georgia, and Wales.

Today in England Uruguay had no answer to Fiji’s dominant performance. The tries began early and Fiji would not slow down. 4 minutes into the match saw Sau crossing while both Metuisela Talebula and Yato also scored before 15 minutes, effecting ending the match as a contest.

Uruguay were well and truly outperformed. There were, however, two players who looked sharp – Ignacio Dotti and Santiago Arata. Both are to play in Major League Rugby (MLR) in 2019. Arata was the best scrum-half on the field, winning a turnover, tackling the much larger Yato hard and scoring a try.

Errata’s try came 30 minutes into the match. It was after Fiji had already crossed for four tries. The try was from a scrum near the Fijian 22. From the back Arata ran left, dummying and darting infield to score  untouched. It was a case in point of the talent of arguably the best no 9 from the Americas.

Fiji would cancel out Uruguay’s try before the interval with Yato scoring his second in the 33rd minute. The Pacific Islanders would be under threat either side of the interval but would ultimately keep Uruguay at bay.

Meanwhile mistakes there pounced upon with Fiji crossing for five second half tries, four of which came in the final thirteen minutes of play. With Uruguay’s bench lacking depth there was no stopping the flying Fijians.

Uruguay play again next Saturday as of Fiji. Los Teros will take-on Romania in Bucharest while Fiji face France in Paris. Romania go into their match having been cleanly beaten today by the USA.

 

SCORING

FIJI 68
Tries – E. Sau 3 (5′, 58′, 60′), M. Talebula (10′), P. Yato 3 (14′, 33′, 69′), J. Tuisova (23′), S. Kunatani (76′), B. Volavola (79′)
Cons – B. Volavola 9/10 (6′, 11′, 15′, 24′, 34′, 61′, 70′, 77′, 80′)

URUGUAY 7
Tries – S. Arata (31′)
Cons – F. Berchesi 1/1 (32′)

 

TEAMS

FIJI
1 Campese Ma’afu (17 Eroni Mawi HT), 2 Mesulame Dolokoto (16 Veremalua Vugakoto 42′-44′, 65′), 3 Manasa Saulo (18 Kali Tawake 51′), 4 Albert Tuisue, 5 Leone Nakarawa (19 Tevita Cavubati HT), 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu (capt.) (20 Mosese Voka HT), 7 Semi Kunatani, 8 Peceli Yato, 9 Henry Seniloli (21 Frank Lomani 70′), 10 Ben Volavola, 11 Eroni Sau, 12 Jale Vatubua (23 Eroni Vasiteri 48′), 13 Vereniki Goneva, 14 Josua Tuisova, 15 Metuisela Talebula (22 Alivereti Veitokani 48′)

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti (17 Matías Benítez 70′), 2 Manuel Ardao (16 Guillermo Pujadas 42′), 3 Juan Rombys (18 Juan Echeverría 62′), 4 Ignacio Dotti (19 Diego Magno 70′), 5 Manuel Leindekar, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.), 7 Leandro Segredo (20 Manuel Diana 50′), 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Santiago Arata (21 Tomás Inciarte 67′), 10 Felipe Berchesi, 11 Gastón Mieres (22 Federico Favaro 67′), 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Juan Manuel Cat (23 Joaquín Prada 62′), 14 Leandro Leivas, 15 Rodrigo Silva

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Tom Foley (RFU)
Assistants: Rasta Rasivhenge (SARU) & Craig Evans (WRU)