Flat Uruguay fall to Romania in Verona

Romania were 29-14 winners over Uruguay this morning at the Payanini Center in Verona, Italy. The Eastern Europeans overcame a half-time deficit to keep Los Teros scoreless in the second-half.

Romania’s win saw tries to open both halves. In just the first minute of play flanker Florian Rosu touched down in the try zone. Romania’s dream start was expanded upon by Ionel Melinte. The fullback converted the try for a 7-0 lead.

Federico Favaro responded for Uruguay. The right winger slotted his first penalty attempt to put Uruguay on the scorecard. He would land two additional first half penalties and also convert a try. They try was a well-worked more with forwards and backs using quick hands. Rodrigo Silva dotted down in the left corner with an assist from Gastón Mieres.

When Favaro landed his third penalty strike Los Teros were well-placed. The South Americans were 14-13 ahead at half-time.

The lead did not survive very long. Romania regained the lead with their second try. Hinckley Vaovasa went through a gap to score in the 45th minute. The New Zealand scored the final try of the match.

The remainder of the contest saw both teams competing well at the breakdown to win penalties. On the one hand, Uruguay looked to turn the opportunities into tries; yet, the Oaks held firm to not concede any tries or points in the second half. On the other hand, Romania went for the posts with Melinte finishing up with 19 points.

Uruguay remain in Italy to play two further matches this month. First is an uncapped game against Italy ‘A.’ Second, is a fully capped test match against Los Teros’ RWC 2023 opponents, Italy. Uruguay will be seeking to boost their roster with European-based players who missed today’s test match.

 

SCORING

ROMANIA 29
Tries – F. Rosu (1’), H. Vaovasa (45’)
Cons – I. Melinte 2/2 (2’, 46’)
Pens – I. Melinte 5/7 (7’, 23’, 51’, 58’, 68’)

URUGUAY 14
Tries – R. Silva (15’)
Cons – F. Favaro 0/1
Pens – F. Favaro 3/3 (5’, 30’, 37’)

 

TEAMS

ROMANIA
1 Constantin Pristavita (17 Dorin Tica 76’), 2 Ovidiu Cojocaru (16 Tudor Butnariu 72’), 3 Vasile Balan (18 Alex Gordas 77’), 4 Marius Antonescu (19 Marius Iftimiuc 13’-26’, 77’), 5 Adrian Motoc, 6 Florian Rosu (20 Alexandru Alexe 67’), 7 Damian Stratila, 8 Mihai Macovei (capt.), 9 Gabriel Rupanu (21 Florin Surugiu 72’), 10 Daniel Plai, 11 Nicolas Onutu, 12 Jason Tomane, 13 Hinckley Vaovasa (22 Alexandru Bucur 77’), 14 Ionut Dumitru (23 Paul Popoaia 76’), 15 Ionel Melinte

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti (18 Matías Benítez 72’), 2 Facundo Gattas (16 Guillermo Pujadas 72’), 3 Diego Arbelo (17 Juan Echeverría 72’), 4 Eric Dosantos (20 Felipe Aliaga 68’), 5 Diego Magno, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manuel Diana (19 Juanjuan Garese 68’), 9 Tomás Inciarte, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Gastón Mieres (23 Felipe Arcos Pérez 56’), 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Nicolás Freitas, 14 Federico Favaro (21 Baltazar Amaya 68’), 15 Rodrigo Silva

Not used: 22 Juan Manuel Tafernaberry

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistants: Nic Berry (Australia) & Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
TMO: Brett Cronin (Australia)