With a Santa Fe player, Los Pumitas made history, 25-17 v NZ | OneFootball

Los Pumitas played a great match and defeated New Zealand 25-17 in the second round of the Rugby Championship M20: in this way, the Albiceleste side defeated the Baby Blacks for the first time in history.

Agustín Ponzio from Santa Fe, a CRAI player, is part of the squad that achieved this historic victory. He started in the previous match (a loss to South Africa) and today came on for a good part of the second half.

From the start of the match, the Argentine team came out determined to take control of the game. So much so that, after six minutes, Nicolás Fernández Miranda’s side scored the first try through Juan Preumayr, but it was ruled out by the TMO for a prior infringement.

But Los Pumitas kept up the pressure and attacking intent, to the point that New Zealand could barely get into the opposition 22. Finally, in the 15th minute, the deadlock was broken: Preumayr and Federico Serpa, the halfback pairing, combined brilliantly out wide so that the fly-half could reach the in-goal area and score the opening try of the match.

Then, in the 24th minute, Serpa added a penalty and the score stood at 8-0 in favor of the Argentines. From the half-hour mark onward, the Baby Blacks reacted: first they came close to a try, and then on the following play they found space and Haki Wiseman cut the deficit.

At the end of the first half, with two players down, the Baby Blacks, after winning a penalty, chose to kick for the lineout and it paid off: JD Van Der Westhuizen appeared out wide and made it 15-12 in Argentina’s favor going into the break.

In the second half, the New Zealand side, despite still being down to 13 men, continued to be the better team and controlled possession. Once back to a full XV, the Baby Blacks kept the initiative, but Argentina struck at a key moment.

In the 55th minute, Luciano Avaca intercepted a tremendous pass, raced away alone into the in-goal area with a great run, and extended Argentina’s lead. Immediately afterward, New Zealand took the initiative again, although Los Pumitas’ strong defense managed to hold off the attacks.

But at the end of the match, the Baby Blacks struck with two consecutive tries, although the last one was ruled out by the TMO and gave the Albiceleste side some breathing room. In the end, after a tense finish, Los Pumitas claimed a 25-17 victory and secured their first win of the tournament, as well as their first-ever win over New Zealand’s youth side.

SUMMARY

Los Pumitas (25): 1. Fabrizio Cebron, 2. Manuel Cuneo Camargo, 3. Bautista Salinas Mallea, 4. Joaquín Pascual Viale, 5. Bautista Benavides, 6. Franco Marizza, 7. Jerónimo Sorondo, 8. Federico Torre, 9. Juan Preumayr, 10. Federico Serpa, 11. Luciano Avaca, 12. Benjamín Ordiz, 13. Pedro Coll (C), 14. Bautista Quiroga Miguens, 15. Simón Pfister

Substitutes: 16. Nicolás Cambiasso, 17. Benjamín Farías Cerioni, 18. Germán Tello Fredes, 19. Agustín Ponzio, 20. Basilio Cañas, 21. Benjamín Ledesma Arocena, 22. Ramón Fernández and 23. Manuel Giannantonio.

Coach: Nicolás Fernández Miranda.

New Zealand (17): 1. Ethan Webber, 2. Josh Findlay, 3. Alex Hewitt, 4. Alex Arnold, 5. Jake Frost, 6. Logan Platt, 7. Kobe Brownlee, 8. Finn McLeod, 9. Charlie Sinton, 10. Mika Muliaina, 11. JD Van Der Westhuizen, 12. Haki Wiseman, 13. Oliver Guerin, 14. Jay Reihana, 15. Cohen Norrie.

Substitutes: 16. Luka Patumaka Makata, 17. Charlie Wallis, 18. Dane Johnston, 19. Johnny Falloon, 20. Micah Fale, 21. Boston Krone, 22. Angus Revell and 23. Logan Williams.

Coach: Kane Jury.

FIRST-HALF POINTS: 16’ Try by Federico Serpa (LP), 24’ Penalty by Federico Serpa (LP), 32’ Try by Haki Wiseman converted by Cohen Norrie (NZ), 35’ Penalty try (LP), 39’ Try by JD Van Der Westhuizen (NZ).

Halftime score: Los Pumitas 15 – 12 New Zealand.

SECOND-HALF POINTS: 15’ Try by Luciano Avaca (LP), 30’ Try by Ramón Fernández Miranda (LP), 33’ Try by Finn McLeod (NZ).

Final score: Los Pumitas 25 – 17 New Zealand.

Yellow cards: FH 35’ Jake Frost (NZ), 36’ Ethan Webber (NZ).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.