Spain rule in Iberia

The Leones of Spain beat the Lobos of Portugal 21-17 in Madrid on Saturday, that ending their European Nations Cup as top dogs of the Iberian Peninsula.

Over all they end fourth in the Six Nations B with Georgia, Russia and Romania above them and Portugal and the Czech Republic below them.

The Lobos scored first and last but Spain’s first-half effort was enough to carry them through. The home side scored three tries in the first half and led 21-7 at half-time. They did not score in the second half as the Wolves crept closer and closer on the rainy afternoon in Madrid.

The Spanish pack dominated scrums and line-outs at the start but a Portuguese counterattack enabled their fast backs to swing into action for a try by fullback  Antonio Aguilar.

The Spanish pack then kept the ball and marched down the field through many phases. Ion Insausti was credited with a try, which belonged to the whole pack.

The forwards brought the Leones back on the attack as Portugal conceded several penalties. João Uva was sent to the sin bin as Portugal conceded a penalty try. The third try was a fine individual effort by Juan Cano who ran through from the middle of the field.

Coach Tomas Morais made several changes which included the introduction of Jose Pinto and moving Pedro Leal to fullback. Jose Pinto kicked a penalty early in the half and then Diogo Mateus scored a try to bring the score to 21-17 with 22 minutes to go. There was no more scoring as Spain’s defence kept the Wolf from a score.

Scorers:

For Spain:
Tries: Insausti, penalty try, Cano
Cons: Gratton 3

For Portugal:
Tries: Aguilar, Mateus
Cons: D Cardoso Pinto, José Pinto
Pen: José Pinto

Teams

Spain: 15 César Sempere, 14 Juan Cano, 13 Javier Canosa, 12 Jaime Nava, 11 David Mota, 10 Mathieu Gratton, 9 Pablo Feijóo, 8 Iván Criado, 7 Juan González, 6 Rafael Camacho, 5 Sergio Souto, 4 Leandro Fernández-Aramburu,  3 Javier Salazar, 2 José Maria Bohórquez, 1 Ion Insausti.
Replacements: 16 Manuel Serrano, 17 Jesús Moreno, 18 César Bernasconi, 19 David Hernández, 20 Víctor Marlet, 21 Manuel Mazo, 22 Rafael Álvarez
 
Portugal: 15 Antonio Aguilar, 14 Aderito Esteves, 13 Diogo Gama, 12 Diogo Mateus, 11 David Mateus, 10 Duarte Cardoso Pinto, 9 Pedro Leal, 8Tiago Girao , 7 Joao Uva, 6 Vasco Uva, 5 Gonçalo Uva, 4 Sebastiao Cunha,  3 Cristian Spachuk, 2 Joao Correia, 1 Juan Murré.
Replacements: 16 Bernardo Duarte, 17 Diogo Fialho, 18 Valter Jorge, 19 Antonio Duarte, 20 Jose Pinto, 21 Pedro Cabral, 22  Gonçalo Foro
 
Referee: Eric Darriere (France)
Touch judges: Jérôme Lamirand (France), Didier Dussaut (France