Uruguay fall to Spain in Montevideo

Uruguay were beaten today by Spain in Montevideo. Los Leones scored two late tries to seal a 32-20 win over Los Teros. The match was the first of a two-match series.

Spain outscored Uruguay by four tries to two. On the one hand, Los Leones crossed for two tries in either half. On the other hand, Uruguay had one in each half. It was, however, Uruguay who scored first. Felipe Etcheverry linked with Nicolás Freitas; the latter blitzing the defense to score with finesse. With Favaro also having landed an earlier penalty Uruguay were 10-0 up after 16 minutes.

Rather than celebrate and look to score again a complacent Uruguay made two crucial errors. The first saw them defending their line with a 5 meter lineout. The second saw it overthrown. Spain Capitalized with flanker Fred Quercy scoring. David Mélé’s conversion attempt was off target.

The Spanish forwards were outmuscling the Uruguayans. A second try in the 24th minute saw Los Leones taking the lead. The weapon that worked was the maul. Uruguay had no answer to the advancing maul and hooker Vicente Del Hoyo scored for the visitors. Mélé’s conversion made it 12-10.

Spain’s forward momentum persisted. Uruguay’s backs were having the better of play, yet were doing little more than defending. The remaining scoring in the opening half went the way of Spain. Debuting Argentine back Bautista Güemes scored his first test points via a 39th minute penalty.

It would take well over half of the second half before scoring resumed. When it did it came with a blast. Scoring from a set-piece move was Andrés Vilaseca. The Uruguayan captain received lineout ball and stepped through and ran ahead. he would beat there defenders to score. Favaro converted to give Uruguay a two point lead.

Spain again responded immediately. Güemes landed a long-range penalty. Uruguay hit-back with a penalty of their own. Favaro’s 73rd minute effort gave Uruguay a 20-18 lead. Spain responded by pouncing not once but twice. Afa Tauli powered over for a pick-and-go score and Andrea Rábago finished off an impressive use of flair.

The teams will meet again in five days time. Game two will again take place at the Estadio Charrúa. Uruguay will be not lonely looking for a better performance, but also rankings points. Today’s defeat will see Uruguay falling.

 

SCORING

URUGUAY 20
Tries – N. Freitas (15’), A. Vilaseca (67’)
Cons – F. Favaro 2/2 (16’, 68’)
Pens – F. Favaro 2/2 (12’, 73’)

SPAIN 32
Tries – F. Quercy (19’), V. Del Hoyo (24’), A. Tauli (77’), A. Rábago (79’)
Cons – D. Mélé 2/3 (25’, 78’), B. Güemes 1/1 (80’)
Pens – D Mélé 0/1, B. Güemes 2/2 (39’, 71’)
Yellow cards – D. Mélé (47’)

 

TEAMS

URUGUAY
1 Matías Benítez (18 Ignacio Péculo 50’), 2 Facundo Gattas (16 Guillermo Pujadas 52’), 3 Diego Arbelo, 4 Felipe Aliaga (21 Eric Dosantos 59’), 5 Juanjuan Garese, 6 Manuel Ardao (20 Leandro Segredo 69’), 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Guillermo Lijtenstein, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Rodrigo Silva, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Nicolás Freitas, 14 Federico Favaro, 15 Gastón Mieres

Not used: 17 Mateo Perillo, 19 Lorenzo Surraco, 22 Ignacio Rodríguez, 23 Agustín Della Corte

SPAIN
1 José Díaz (16 Fernando López 40’), 2 Vicente Del Hoyo (17 Steve Barnes 59’), 3 Andrés Álvarado (18 Joël Merkler 65’), 4 Manuel Mora (19 Mike Walker-Fitton 53’), 5 Victor Sánchez (20 Michael Hogg 55’), 6 Matt Foulds (4 Manuel Mora 69’), 7 Fred Quercy, 8 Afa Tauli, 9 Kerman Aurrekoetxea (21 Facundo Munilla 48’), 10 David Mélé, 11 Julen Goia (capt.) (23 Baltazar Taibo 65’), 12 Bautista Güemes, 13 Andrea Rábago, 14 Ignacio Contardi, 15 Richard Stewart (22 Gonzalo Vinuesa 65’)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Federico Anselmi (Argentina)