Pumas beat Uruguay in Maldonado and achieved their second victory of the Contepomi era

At the end of the July window for Los Pumas, the Argentine rugby team closed the series in Uruguay where they faced Los Teros in an official match after 18 years (the last one with the main formations was in 2006). The victory of the team led by Felipe Contepomi by 79 to 5 showed the great differences that exist at this level between one team and another, even with a formation that is not usual in the albiceleste squad.

The Uruguayans are in Tier 2, the second group in the world ranking, and they once again had a competitive series where they faced France, with a 43-28 defeat, and next Saturday, the 27th, they will receive Scotland at the Charrúa Stadium in Montevideo.

For their part, Los Pumas had lost to Les Bleus in Mendoza, by 28 to 13, and recovered last weekend at the Vélez stadium, where they won 33 to 25, which meant the first victory in the era of Felipe Contepomi, the new Head Coach of the national team, which is a continuation of the previous cycle led by the Australian Michael Cheika, with the fourth place in the 2023 World Cup in France as the closest antecedent.

The Argentine team arrived without its injured captain, Julián Montoya, and with several changes, including two debutants, Joaquín Moro from Bahía Blanca in the starting XV and Francisco Coria Marchetti from Tucumán on the substitutes’ bench.

The Pumas defeated Los Teros in Uruguay (Credit: UAR Press – Gaspafotos (Enzo Santos)

Marcos Kremer from Entre Ríos was the captain for the first time, a role that was worn in recent times by the aforementioned Montoya, Pablo Matera, Jerónimo de la Fuente and Tomás Cubelli, the latter two when the first team was not there. All of them succeeded Agustín Creevy, the leading exponent with 51 caps as the team’s leader on the field (Montoya has already had 34 in that capacity).

A first half with seven tries. The start was as expected, with Los Pumas taking control of the game in the Uruguayan half. A poorly finished maul and a scrum with an infringement against them were the first resolutions. But in the first synchronized action, Ignacio Mendy, who returned to the national team, opened the scoring (5-0). Los Pumas increased the score with a counterattack try, after a good combination between debutant Moro and Mendy, who scored for the second time (10-0).

The scoring marked the gap between the two teams. Uruguay repeatedly failed at the lineout and the Argentines took advantage of every advantage. The scrum also showed great differences, so at 19 minutes, Albornoz made it 13-0 with a penalty.

At 27′, Los Pumas increased the lead with a try from the full width of the field scored by Jerónimo de la Fuente, after a very good initial run by Ruiz (20-0). Cordero immediately increased the lead (27-0) in a clear demonstration that there was no longer any equivalence between the two teams.

Los Pumas added their second victory in the July window against Los Teros, in Uruguay (Credit: UAR Press – Gaspafotos (Enzo Santos)

Joaquín Moro was the one who had the pleasure, in his first match and after a great first half, he increased the lead with a try on the flag (34-0). Towards the end there were two more tries, from Cordoba’s Joaquín Oviedo and from Mateo Carreras, who closed a categorical partial for the Argentines with the score 44-0.

The second half was an anecdote as to how the match would end. Mendy scored again (51-0), although the home team reduced the deficit, which, due to an Argentine error at the start, had a penalty that they played quickly and broke the deadlock with a try from the recently substituted Hontou (51-5).

At 12 minutes, another Argentine goal came. This time it was from the other debutant, Tucuman’s Francisco Coria Marchetti, who took advantage of a line drive (58-5). However, the game became more even, because Uruguay improved a little and Los Pumas lowered their intensity.

The entry of Gonzalo García showed some good combinations between the Tucumans: Between him, Albornoz and Mateo Carreras, they created the second try for the winger. Then another one came from Joaquín Moro and the first from Santiago Carreras, to put the final score at 79 to 5 for Felipe Contepomi’s team.

The Pumas defeated Los Teros 79-5 in Uruguay (Credit: UAR Press – Gaspafotos (Enzo Santos)

Summary of the match:

LOS TEROS (5): 1- Mateo Sanguinetti, 2- Germán Kessler, 3- Reinaldo Piussi, 4- Felipe Aliaga, 5- Manuel Leindekar, 6- Manuel Ardao, 7- Santiago Civetta, 8- Manuel Diana, 9- Santiago Álvarez , 10- Felipe Etcheverry, 11- Nicolás Freitas, 12- Andrés Vilaseca (C), 13- Tomás Inciarte, 14- Juan Manuel Alonso, 15- Ignacio Álvarez. HC: Rodolfo Ambrosio

Substitutes: 16- Guillermo Pujadas, 17- Ignacio Peculo, 18- Diego Arbelo, 19- Diego Magno, 20- Lucas Bianchi, 21- Carlos Deus, 22- Joaquin Suarez, 23- Juan Bautista Hontou.

LOS PUMAS (79): 1- Thomas Gallo, 2- Ignacio Ruiz, 3- Eduardo Bello, 4- Franco Molina, 5- Pedro Rubiolo, 6- Joaquín Moro, 7- Marcos Kremer (C), 8- Joaquín Oviedo, 9 – Gonzalo Bertranou, 10- Tomás Albornoz, 11- Mateo Carreras, 12- Jerónimo de la Fuente, 13- Santiago Chocobares, 14- Ignacio Mendy, 15- Santiago Cordero. HC: Felipe Contepomi

Substitutes: 16- Ignacio Calles, 17- Mayco Vivas, 18- Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19- Matias Alemanno, 20- Pablo Matera, 21- Gonzalo Garcia, 22- Santiago Carreras, 23- Matias Orlando.

The goals:

PT: 5m and 10m, tries by Mendy (A); 19m, penalty by Albornoz (A); 27m, try by De la Fuente converted by Albornoz (A); 29m, try by Cordero converted by Albornoz (A); 35m, try by Moro converted by Albornoz (A); 39m, try by Oviedo (A), and 40m, try by M. Carreras (A). Partial result: Uruguay 0 vs. Argentina 44

ST: 1m, try by Mendy converted by Albornoz (A); 4m, try by Hontou (U); 12m, try by Coria Marchetti converted by Albornoz (A); 24m, try by M. Carreras converted by Albornoz (A); 30m, try by Moro converted by Albornoz (A); 37m, try by S. Carreras converted by Albornoz (A). Final result: Uruguay 5 vs. Argentina 79.

Referee: Luc Ramos (France).

Assistants: Chris Busby (Ireland) and Frank Méndez (Chile).

Stadium: Domingo Burgueño Miguel, Maldonado Campus.