by Tom Pritchard
URUGUAY began their tour of the UK with a 45-21 defeat to Cardiff Blues at the Cardiff Arms Park on Tuesday. We look at the key takeaways from the International Challenge Match.
Arata shows he is one for the future
One of Los Teros’ stand out performers was scrum-half Santiago Arata.
The 22-year-old was sharp around the base of the ruck, and kept the Blues’ defence honest throughout the game.
Arata joined American side Houston Sabercats only a few days ago, and on the evidence of tonight’s performance he should be exciting to watch in Major League Rugby.
He showed that he has the ability to skip past would-be tacklers, and his service on a cold and wet evening was impressive.
Disappointing scrummaging shows there’s work to be done
Rugby is a very difficult game when you’re on the back foot in the scrum, and the visitors found this out on numerous occasions.
The starting front row of Edgardo Benitez, Germán Kessler and Juan Echeverría found it hard going for large parts of the game.
The scrum penalties allowed John Mulvihill’s men to kick downfield and play in the right areas, controlling territory and possession as they dotted down for seven tries.
In a Rugby World Cup 2019 group that contains Australia, Wales and Georgia, Esteban Meneses will need his side to improve at scrum time if they’re to stand any chance.
Centres impressive as midfield defence looks solid
Agustín Della Corte and Juan Manuel Cat were at the heart of a midfield defence which limited Cardiff Blues to only a handful of opportunities.
The latter also showed some nice touches in attack and worked well with inside centre Della Corte to close any gaps which the Blues would look to exploit.
Los Teros will have to deal with players such as Jonathan Davies and Kurtley Beale in the next World Cup, and they will have been encouraged at the number of times they were able to force the Pro 14 side out wide.
T, in particular,e was defending in their own 22, with the driving maul in particular proving a potent weapon for last season’s Challenge Cup champions.
Los Teros carry well but scupper too many opportunities
The ball carrying from the Uruguay pack, primarily from second rows Ignacio Dotti and Manuel Leindekar, gave the tourists opportunities to create chances.
A disappointment will be that they weren’t clinical enough. On more than one occasion, they made a clean break but didn’t have the composure to make the right decision; either knocking on or allowing the Cardiff Blues defence to recover.
If the South Americans are able to improve on this aspect of their game, they’ll prove a bigger threat in their upcoming matches.
They travel to face Ulster at the Kingspan Stadium in Belfast on Friday (November 9), before playing Fiji, also in their World Cup group, at Hartpury College on November 17.
