Argentina XV brush aside USA Falcons in Montevideo

The USA Falcons brought their South American trip to a close with a resounding 81-21 defeat at the hands of the Argentina XV on Tuesday. After a competitive opening 40 minutes, the wheels came off in the second half as the Argentines piled on 55 points at the Estadio Charrúa.

It was an ominous start for the Falcons as Juan Ignacio Lando scored on the end of an overlap just a minute into the game. Nicolas D’Amorim was next, the flanker powering over after several phases on attack. Joaquin Lamas converted the second to make it 12-nil to the South Americans.

Karl Keane broke up another Argentine assault with a deliberate knock-on and was sent to the sin-bin. Despite being short a man, the Falcons rallied. John LeFevre moved into the gap at scrumhalf to keep the attack from breaking up. After Jonah Dietenberger won a turnover at the breakdown, a driving maul saw Alex Lopeti getting the North Americans on the board.

The restart was a disaster with possession handed straight back to Argentina. Their own maul was unstoppable with Bautista Bernasconi getting the credit. Mateo Soler then raced free to make the halftime score 26-7 in favor of the Pumas hopefuls.

Tries rained down from every angle in the second half, with the Argentines touching down nine times. Soler grabbed a hat trick before Ignacio Ruiz equaled his effort in a span of just 11 minutes to end the game. In between Juan Mernes touched down twice with singles to Eliseo Morales and Franco Molina.

The Falcons got two scores of their own, both from youngsters. KoiKoi Nelligan rolled over the line from close range to score the first, with the second going to Dom Iacovino on a line break through the middle. Line Latu converted each to cap a perfect kicking performance from the flyhalf over two games.

Sunday will bring the series to a close as the Uruguay XV take on the Argentina XV, with the winner crowned champion. The USA now turns their eyes towards South Africa where the second Falcons squad takes on the Pumas provincial side on Friday, with the World Cup Qualifiers looming in November.

 

SCORING

ARGENTINA 81
Tries – J. Landó (1′), N. D’Amorim (12′), B. Bernasconi (30′), M. Soler 3 (35′, 46′, 66′), E. Morales (49′), J. Mernes 2 (53′, 72′), F. Molina (63′), I. Ruiz 2 (70′, 76′, 80’+1′)
Cons – J. Lamas 4/6 (13′, 31′, 36′, 50′), J. de la Vega Mendía 4/7 (64′, 67′, 71′, 80’+2′)

USA 21
Tries – A. Lopeti (27′), K. Nelligan (56′), D. Iacovino (68′)
Cons – L. Latu 3/3 (28′, 57′, 69′)
YC – K. Keane (20′)

 

TEAMS

ARGENTINA XV
1 Miguel Prince (17 Nicolás Revol 50′), 2 Bautista Bernasconi (capt.) (16 Ignacio Ruiz 50′), 3 Santiago Medrano (18 Martín Villar 50′), 4 Franco Molina, 5 Ignacio Calas (19 Lorenzo Colidio 55′), 6 Nicolás D’Amorim (20 Jerónimo Gómez Vara 50′), 7 Pedro Rubiolo, 8 Juan Mernes, 9 Eliseo Morales (21 Rafael Iriarte 50′), 10 Joaquín Lamas (22 Joaquín de la Vega Mendía 50′), 11 Nicanor López, 12 Mariano García Ascarate (23 Faustino Sánchez 57′), 13 Ramiro Costa, 14 Mateo Soler, 15 Juan Ignacio Landó

USA FALCONS
1 Jake Turnbull (capt.) (17 Lincoln Sii 67′), 2 Alex Lopeti (18 KoiKoi Nelligan 51′), 3 Mason Pedersen (16 Mika Felix 62′), 4 Jonah Dietenberger (19 Collin Grosse 51′), 5 Mike Matarazzo, 6 Ronan Murphy, 7 Devin Short, 8 Jason Damm, 9 Karl Keane (21 Ethan McVeigh 65′), 10 Line Latu, 11 Pita Vi (23 Willis Goodwin 57′), 12 Aaron Matthews (20 Patrick Medina 57′), 13 Dom Iacovino, 14 John LeFevre, 15 Owen Sheehy (22 Shane Barry 62′)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Francisco González (Uruguay)
Assistants: Moe Chaudhry (Canada) & Gonzalo Ventoso (Uruguay)