Santa Fe lad helps Los Pumitas make history, 25-17 v New Zealand | 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 beat 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 much of the second half.

From the start of the match, the Argentine team looked to take control of the game. So much so that, six minutes in, the team coached by Nicolás Fernández Miranda scored the first try through Juan Preumayr, but it was disallowed by the TMO for a previous 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, after 15 minutes, 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 was 8-0 in favor of the Argentines. From the half-hour mark onward, the Baby Blacks reacted: first they came close to scoring a try, but in the following play they found space and Haki Wiseman cut into the lead.

At the end of the first half, down to 13 men, the Baby Blacks chose to kick to touch from a penalty in their favor, and it paid off: JD Van Der Westhuizen appeared out wide and made it 15-12 to Argentina going into the break.

In the second half, the New Zealand side, despite still being down to 13, continued to look superior and control the ball. 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 ball, raced alone into the in-goal area with a great run, and extended Argentina’s lead. Immediately afterward, New Zealand regained the initiative, although Los Pumitas’ solid defense managed to hold off the attacks.

But late in the match, the Baby Blacks struck with two consecutive tries, although the last one was disallowed by the TMO and gave the Albiceleste side some breathing room. In the end, after a tense finish, Los Pumitas held on for a 25-17 victory and claimed 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).

Half-time 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.