Argentina Storm to Biggest Ever Win Over Uruguay

Argentina recorded their biggest ever win over Uruguay on Saturday. The Pumas were 79-5 winners over The Tens on a winter day in Punta del Este. It was an unacceptable performance from Rodolfo Ambrosio’s Uruguay; The Tens were a shadow of the team that had played France ten days earlier.

Uruguay defeated many neutral countries at the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The Tens were competitive in three of their four games. Uruguay pushed France and Italy aside before beating Namibia. Uruguay were then soundly beaten by New Zealand.

Instead of repeating the positives, it was the disappointing performance against New Zealand that Uruguay repeated at home on Saturday. Argentina even outshone Uruguay more than the All Blacks in their powerful performance against The Tens in Lyon.

Argentina were so dominant that they had 75% territory and 73% ball possession in the first half. They finished with 1,149 running metres compared to Uruguay’s 210. One player who took the chance against Uruguay was Ignacio Mendy. In his second test match, and first in three years, Mendy scored a hat-trick. He opened the scoring after a cut-out pass from Benetton team-mate Tomás Albornoz.

One attempt became two for Mendy in the 10th minute. After Uruguay lost control of the ball, debutant Joaquín Moro picked it up and ran forward, finding Mendy who had the gas and skill to finish. Albornoz missed both conversions, but was awarded a penalty minutes later.

Mendy was involved again in the third try as he and Santiago Cordero combined before setting up Jerónimo de la Fuente who scored. Mateo Carreras then beat two defenders before linking up with Albonroz who had the try assist for Cordero.

Los Pumas scored three more times before half-time. First, de la Fuente combined with Moro who went low to avoid two tackles. Second, a Mendy break was followed by pick-and-go play with Joaquín Oviedo scoring. Third, Mateo Carreras stepped around Ignacio Álvarez to score.

The second half began with Mendy claiming his hat-trick, seizing on a brilliant cut-out pass from Albornoz to score untouched. In response, Uruguay finally found some rhythm. After some enterprising play, debutant Juan Bautista Hontou crossed into the left corner.

Debutant Puma player Francisco Coria Marchetti scored in response. It was a soft try after a knocked down lineout close to the try zone. Both Mateo Carreras and Joaquín Moro then scored their second tries. Both were as support runners. The final try was coast to coast with Santiago Cordero finishing it under the posts.

Contepomi will now finalise their squad for the Rugby Championship, while Uruguay have one more test match in July. The Tens must improve smartly before he plays Scotland in Montevideo next Saturday. Scotland are unbeaten against Canada, the US and Chile this month.

URUGUAY (5)
Try (1) – JB Hontou (45′)

ARGENTINA (79)
Try (12) – I Mendy 3 (4′, 10′, 42′); J de la Fuente (26′); S Cordero (28′); J Moro 2 (33′, 66′); J Oviedo (37′); M Carreras 2 (40′, 62′); F Coria Marchetti (50′); S Carreras (75′)
Con – T Albornoz (27′, 29′, 34′, 42′, 51′, 63′, 67′, 76′)
Pen (1) – T Albornoz (19′)

URUGUAY
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 (captain. ), 13 Tomás Inciarte, 14 Juan Manuel Alonso, 15 Ignacio Álvarez

Replacements: 16 Guillermo Pujadas, 17 Ignacio Peculo, 18 Diego Arbelo, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Lucas Bianchi, 21 Carlos Deus, 22 Joaquín Suárez, 23 Juan Bautista Hontou

ARGENTINA
1 Thomas Gallo, 2 Ignacio Ruiz, 3 Eduardo Bello, 4 Franco Molina, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 6 Joaquín Moro, 7 Marcos Kremer (captain), 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

Replacements: 16 Ignacio Calles, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Matías Alemanno, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 Gonzalo García, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Matías Orlando

Referee: Luke Ramos (France)
Assistants: Chris Busby (Ireland); Frank Méndez (Chile)