It was a long day at the office for the United States in the ARC opener on Friday night. As expected their forwards were taught a brutal lesson by Argentina who took a half dozen scrums against the head and gave hardly any ground around the fringes. The obvious lack of cohesion in attack and defense showed as Argentina punished every error for a full eighty minutes.
The match started ominously as Felipe Aranguren took the kickoff well and after a couple phases fullback Roman Miralles made a out wide only to knock on when a try looked likely. Some sloppy back and forth action eventually led to a penalty opportunity for Gearoid McDonald from 45 metres out. He covered the distance with ease off his left boot, but pushed it just to the left and the flags stayed down.
Argentina responded immediately and a Facundo Barrea break down the right flank led to a successful penalty goal from Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias, and he added another only a couple minutes later when Chris Chapman was isolated on a counter attack and penalised for holding on. McDonald had another opportunity put points on the board after the restart but pushed it wide left once again.
Montero nearly broke away down the left wing and then Javier Rojas cut through a half-gap in the midfield, but the move was killed by Nick Wallace and he was immediately sent to the bin. After a lineout drive Bruno Postiglioni appeared to go over the line, but he was adjudged to have knocked on. The Americans did well to hold the scrum and Cameron Dolan picked and made good yards allowing Benny Mateialona to relieve the pressure.
Argentina finally put their man advantage to good use from a lineout when Tomas de la Vega tapped down to Cubelli who found a gap and put Rojas under the sticks for an excellent try. Gonzalez Iglesias converted and Argentina lead by 13. Immediately after the restart another penalty for holding on gave McDonald another kickable penalty, but this time he pulled it right.
Just before halftime with Wallace still off Argentina took another ball against the head and Cubelli broke fifty metres down the left sideline before throwing a miracle pass to his inside to put over Gonzalez Iglesias, who converted his own try and the Jaguars led 20-0 at the break.
Zach Pangelinan took over the kicking duties in the second half and after a good break from Chapman was given his first chance to put points on the board and made no mistake, finally getting the Americans onto the scoreboard almost 10 minutes into the second half.
That would be all for the Americans though as Argentina took control for the rest of second half. Replacement fullback Ramiro Moyano scored three tries; first a brilliant 80 metre pick up and run from a misplaced McDonald grubber, then a well worked set piece move, and finally an intercept try from a quick lineout attempt. Valentin Cruz added two conversions to make the final 39-3 for the Jaguars.
Looking ahead Argentina will be very pleased, particularly with the play of man-of-the-match Cubelli, while Rojas looked sharp in the midfield and of course Moyano with his hat trick. The second rows Aranguren and Alemanno put in a huge amount of work and de la Vega showed flashes of excellence though he did make a couple unforced errors.
For the Americans Dolan was their standout, with Harriman and Headlee also doing well. Craigwell made a real impact when he came on and should have earned himself a start next game, and while centres Dean Gericke and Jack Tracy made some inroads offensively they struggled at times with defensive alignment. McDonald at flyhalf kicked well out of hand and had some good passes but never really took on the line and moved too laterally. Pangelinan looked out of place on the wing and should get a go in McDonald’s place. Worryingly both Taylor Mokate and Derek Asbun came off injured and the US will hope that they have both fit for the rest of the tournament.
The Americans now move on to meet the Canadians in what is the pivotal game in the tournament, while the Jaguars will face Los Teros who will likely pose little threat. It will be a good night for the Argentineans. For USA, a trip to the ice baths to regroup.
SCORING
17 mins – Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias pen 0-3
20 mins – Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias pen 0-6
35 mins – Javier Rojas try 0-11
35 mins – Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias con 0-13
39 mins – Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias try 0-18
39 mins – Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias con 0-20
49 mins – Zach Pangelinan pen 3-20
57 mins – Ramiro Moyano try 3-25
70 mins – Ramiro Moyano try 3-30
70 mins – Valentin Cruz con 3-32
80 mins – Ramiro Moyano try 3-37
80 mins – Valentin Cruz con 3-39
CARDS
28 mins – Nick Wallace yellow (not rolling away)
64 mins – Alejandro Campos yellow (not rolling away)
UNITED STATES
Chris Chapman; Cornelius Dirksen (Miles Craigwell HT), Dean Gericke, Jack Tracy, Zach Pangelinan; Gearoid McDonald, Benny Mateialona (Shaun Davies 71); Nick Wallace, Derek Asbun (Zach Fenoglio 36), Zach Fenoglio (Tony Purpura HT); Tom Katzfey (Nick Civetta 71), Graham Harriman; Cameron Dolan (capt.), John Quill (Kris Headlee 36-40, Stan Moa’ali’i 60), Taylor Mokate (Tony Purpura 29-39, Kris Headlee HT).
ARGENTINA
Roman Miralles (Ramiro Moyano 51); Facundo Barrea, Jeronimo de la Fuente, Javier Rojas, Manuel Montero; Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias (Valentin Cruz 64), Tomas Cubelli (capt.) (Marcos Bollini 71); Francisco Piccinini (Ignacio Saenz 24), Bruno Postiglioni, Juan Gomez (Ramiro Herrera 54); Felipe Aranguren, Matias Alemanno; Rodrigo Bruno (Alejandro Campos 51), Tomas de la Vega, Benjamin Macome (Lisandro Ahualli 51).
