So Close. Uruguay U20s Get By USA 33-31

07.15.2023National Teams

Uruguay's U20s held on to defeat the USA U20s 33-31 in Round 1 of the World Rugby U20 Trophy Saturday thanks to a powerful combination of scrum, maul, defense, and kicking.

It was overall an impressive showing by the USA but too many errors, notably penalties in their own half, led to their demise.

Los Teritos Start Strong

Uruguay stormed out to a 10-0 lead in the first six minutes. Just a few seconds into the game Uruguay flanker Francisco Deffeminis jumped to catch a pass and was tackled in the air by USA center Dom Besag. Fullback Juan Carlos Canessa slotted the kick and Uruguay was up 3-0 after about 90 seconds. Another penalty allowed Uruguay to turn over possession and take a lineout in the USA half. Yet another penalty set up another lineout, and while the the Junior Eagles forced a knock-on, they were inside their 22 now and still under pressure.

The USA won the ensuing scrum but as they worked a couple of pods to set up a clearance kick, Los Teritos jackled the ball out of the tackle and flyhalf Icaro Amarillo snaked through four defenders to score.

This was a tough lesson to learn for the USA. The turnover was less the fault of the ballcarrier than it was of the three support players around him who didn't instantly seal the ruck. Deffeminis was free to come in and take the ball.

The USA has possession after that but the Uruguay defense was up very quickly, and their first tackles were unflinching. That defense led to another turnover in the tackle but one the Americans managed to stymie. But soon thereafter the failure to post a defender next to the ruck left a hole for Amarillo to race through and he went 30 meters before offloading. A very ill-advised late hit after a kick from prop Connor Devos set up another shot at goal for Canessa and he had no trouble, making it 13-0 after 12 minutes. The USA looked in realy trouble.

But they weren't out of it yet. Some better clearouts at midfield set up a chance and a nice dummy run from flanker Cameron McAlpine allowed Besag to cut through a gap, sell a dummy, and then feed wing Sosaia Pongi. Pongi had 22 meters to go to score and was tackled about five meters short. But as his body flew into touch he launched a loopy, overhand pass infield, tipped by a Urugayan hand. The ball, however, fell perfectly for Besag who was over for the try .

Flyhalf Hugh O'Kennedy converted and now it was a game at 13-7.

But Those Penalties

Penalties continued to be the USA's bête noir with a scrum inside the Uruguayan half more often than not resulting in a kick and a lineout inside USA territory. One such turnaround eventually led to another penalty and Canessa calmly putting the ball over, making it 16-7. Better phase play from the USA, along with a stolen lineout, led to a bit of a break for Pongi, and while he was stopped the USA did get a penalty. O'Kennedy, suffering a very bloody nose after a (legal) collision, put the kick over. Moments later it was the same kind of story and O'Kennedy was good on the same kick. Uruguay 16 USA 13.

The Americans had the run of play during that time and after and were in very good position to take the lead. But when they opted for the lineout instead of points on the next penalty, Uruguay stopped the maul and were able to get out of trouble. The USA would run their way into a good position only for a penalty to allow Los Teritos to set up a lineout inside the USA half—the same sad story over and over again.

.@RugbyUruguay v @USARugby up next#WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/0v2tQHXSIh
— Kenya Rugby (@OfficialKRU) July 15, 2023

The half ended with USA prop John Wilson getting sin-binned for trying to collapse a Uruguay maul and Uruguay capitalized. They took a lineout about 20 meters out and expertly and brutally mauled it all the way to the tryline where lock Franco Bertini crashed down with the ball. Canessa converted and instead of being tied or in the lead at halftime, the USA was now behind 23-13.

world rugby u20 trophy pool a uruguay v usa

world rugby u20 trophy pool a uruguay v usa 2

Second Half Comebacks

It was actually the USA which got a scrum penalty early in the second half and when Uruguay was marched off another 10 meters for throwing the ball away, the Junior Eagles had a solid scoring chance. No problem. Lineout, maul, and hooker Hayden McKay scored it.

McKay is a story unto himself. He showed up at U20 camp ready to play flanker and most observers saw him as being too small to be an international #7. However, his work rate and intensity won the coaches over and he in fact did play flanker against Canada and did so superbly. He was slated to be the openside flanker for this game, too, however hooker Caden Crist came down with an illness just before gameday. So McKay, who indeed can play hooker and can throw in at the lineout, was shifted to #2. It wasn't a tough move for him as he still got to roam the field and cause trouble. He also got to be the ballcarrier on the mauls.

Try USA and O'Kennedy's conversion made it 23-20.

The game had to be delayed after that for close to six minutes because of a very worrying injury to Uruguay No. 8 Manuel Rosmarino, who appeared to suffer a head injury and was taken off immobolized on a stretcher. But once play resumed there was no let-off in intensity.

The USA U20s attacked hard and eventually earned a kickable penalty which O'Kennedy put over to tie the game 23-23. After that was some of the USA's most adventurous rugby, with a long kick, muffed by Uruguay, getting them close to the line and breaks from Besag, Aisake Tukuafu, and good work from Dylan Fortune along with McKay asking serious questions of the Uruguay defense. Ultimately it all led to a penalty attempt for O'Kennedy, which he put over without trouble to give the USA the lead.

Tempers boled over soon thereafter. Uruguay wouldn't give up the ball on a penalty. Reserve scrumhalf Solomon Williams insisted and soon both forward packs were shoving and grabbing. Williams, amazingly, got a yellow card as did Uruguay lock Manuel Bertolotti. Really it was a poorly-reasoned call because Uruguay's negative play, especially around not release the ball on penalties, was rampant. Uruguay hooker Francisco García also deserved a card for fighting to keep the ball when you're supposed to just put it down when a penalty is called. It doesn't make sense for referee Tevita Rokoverni and AR Craig Chan could say that Williams started it when it was García not releasing the ball that was the beginning of it all.

At 61 minutes, with both teams at 14 men, the USA got a penalty and opted for the lineout. Their maul was good and unified, allowing to pop off the back and dive in.

Up 31-23 the USA knew they had to keep up the pressure but the problems they had encountered earlier started to rear their heads. Scrums, particularly, kept on being a problem and by the end of the game Uruguay was getting a big shove and a penalty every time. Whenever the USA was slow to clear out over a tackle Los Teritors were over it, and that indeed led to a penalty that Canessa put over. And eventually a series of scrum penalties led to another lineout, and another maul, With the previous yellow cards expired but the USA now shorthanded due to repeated not rolling away, Uruguay struck. Instead of going the penalty and maul route they finally went wide.

Some love ball handling put them close on the right side, and then, with a penalty advantage, Amarillo popped a wide kick caught by Dante Soto and he soared in for the game-tying try. Canessa converted and Uruguay led 33-31.

There was time for the USA to get into the Uruguay half and get a penalty, and when Uruguay knocked on the restart it seemed like they had a chance. But Uruguay bent the USA scrum back and got a penalty, and that, basically, was it.

"Unfortunately, we did not get the result we were looking for today versus a very strong Uruguay team," said Head Coach Kyle Sumsion. "As a team, we need to greatly improve our performance and decision making under pressure. Collectively we are looking forward to applying the lessons learned as we carry on through the Trophy next week.”

USA U20s 31
Tries: McKay 2, Besag
Convs: O'Kennedy 2
Pens: O'Kennedy 4

Uruguay U20s 33
Tries: Amarillo, Bertini, Soto
Convs: Canessa 3
Pens: Canessa 4

For the USA, the scrum and Uruguay's power in the maul were the difference. Uruguay hit hard on defense but both teams were strong in contact. There wasn't a great deal of open play but both sides were capable of it. Being too slow to clear out was costly for the Americans at times, and it was turnovers and penalties there, along with the scrum, that killed some key attacking chances. Had the USA been able to win one or two more rucks, and win their scrum ball with any sort of consistency, they likely would have won.

But that's the game. That's how it works.