Spain sweep aside Uruguay before their big day out

Match Report: After two agonising removals from previous World Cups due to off-the-field matters, which would be worthy of a book in itself – the Spanish Rugby Union found itself back at the start of a World Cup cycle hoping to get to their first Men´s World Cup this millennium.

In the sunshine of El Central with roughly 3,000 in attendance, the hymn of Valencia was beautifully observed after the devastating floods and the young (average age 27) Spanish side got off to an impressive start against a Uruguay team who could most generously be described as ‘oxidado’ (rusty).

With only a minute on the clock, Spain shifted the ball out wide and into the waiting arms of wing Gauthier Minguillon to be up 5-0 but a missed kick from Gonzalo Vinuesa would be the first of many and an area Spain will have to improve of this Autumn.

Truth be told Uruguay in the first-half could not have played worse, their one dangerous weapon of a rolling maul off the lineout was negated by an string of overthrows, not throwing in straight and the sheer number of knock-ons.

The game had the air of a pre-season warm up from Uruguay and as the game entered a lull following Uruguay missing a kick right in front of the posts,.

Spain´s No.9 Kerman Aurrekoetxa delivered a lovely reverse move off a Spanish scrum and quick hands to release Martiniano Cian in the right end side.

The game was in danger of becoming a rout when Spain held up Uruguay over the line on 30 minutes, and when Spain were spreading the ball they looked by far the more fluid team.

However, in the space of one minute, either side of half-time Uruguay had the game back at 24-14, with a penalty try on the stroke of half-time and another try off a rolling maul putting the game back in contention.

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In truth, Spain’s habit of conceding points off restarts from lapses in concentration is not a new phenomenon and alongside leaving 13 points on the field off missed kicks, is the greatest area of weakness.

Uruguay would drag the game back to 27-21 when after securing the ball off the maul, they retained the ball long enough to put pressure on the Spanish line to send Felipe Aliaga crashing over the line with twenty minutes left to play.

A penalty in the 72nd minute from Ignacio Álarez had it at 30-24 and Spain was at risk of throwing away a game they had largely dominated but they secured the restart from their own kick-off and in the end, Spain would hold on for a 33-24 victory and children flooded onto the field to grab autographs from the players.

After the game, neither coach was completely happy with their side´s performance but from a Spanish perspective, the level of performance and concentration will have to climb a level if they are to be competitive against Fiji next week (with many Spanish fans joking they´d rather play Wales to have a chance of winning).

However, with Spanish Rugby heading towards a 15,000 crowd in what many consider to be Spain’s rugby heartland of Valladolid, there is hope that they can rise to the occasion and Spanish Rugby can begin a journey that ends not in recriminations of player eligibility but on a plane to Australia.

The scorers

For Spain
Tries: Minguillon, Cian, Aurrekoetxea 2
Cons: Vinuesa 2
Pens: Vinuesa 3

For Uruguay
Tries: Pujadas, Aliaga, Penalty try does not require a conversion
Cons: Alvarez 2
Pen: Alvarez

Teams:

Spain: 15 Alberto Carmona, 14 Gauthier Minguillon, 13 Inaki Mateu, 12 Alvar Gimeno, 11 Martiniano Cian, 10 Gonzalo Vinuesa, 9 Kerman Aurrekoetxea, 8 Raphael Nieto, 7 Ekain Imaz, 6 Vicente Boronat, 5 Imanol Urraza, 4 Ignacio Pineiro, 3 Jon Zabala (captain), 2 Santiago Ovejero, 1 Bernardo Vazquez.
Replacements: 16 Alvaro Garcia, 17 Thierry Fuetu, 18 Lucas Santamaria, 19 Pablo Guirao, 20 Alex Saleta, 21 Estanislao Bay, 22 Alejandro Alonso, 23 Pau Aira.

Uruguay: 15 Baltazar Amaya, 14 Mateo Vinals, 13 Felipe Arcos Perez, 12 Juan Manuel Alonso, 11 Bautista Basso, 10 Ignacio Alvarez, 9 Santiago Alvarez, 8 Carlos Deus, 7 Lucas Bianchi, 6 Santiago Civetta, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 4 Felipe Aliaga, 3 Ignacio Peculo, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 1 Mateo Sanguinetti.
Replacements: 16 Joaquin Myszka, 17 Diego Arbelo, 18 Mateo Perillo, 19 Ignacio Dotti, 20 Manuel Diana, 21 Joaquin Suarez, 22 Icaro Amarillo, 23 Juan Gonzalez.

Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Chris Busby (Ireland), IRFU appointment
TMO: Quinton Immelman (South Africa)

By Edward Anderson