Before the match between his former team and New Zealand, Thursday October 5 in Lyon, former Uruguay captain Santiago Vilaseca said he “a little worried”. The South American had, like the entire oval planet, seen the All Blacks score almost a hundred points against Italy the previous week, a team playing in the prestigious Six Nations Tournament. What to tremble when we point, like Uruguay, at 17e place in the world rankings.
Santiago Vilaseca’s fear was well-founded: despite good resistance at the start of the match, the Teros were unable to do anything against a serious and often irresistible New Zealand. Thanks to a river victory (73-0) built with the help of eleven tries, the team led by its captain, Sam Cane, qualified without surprise for the quarter-finals of the competition.
The men in black were first pushed around by the Uruguayans: in the twentieth minute of the game, the Teros had not conceded a single point. The previous week and against the same opponent, the Italians had already conceded twenty-one.
Uruguay confirms its qualities
The Uruguayans even thought they scored a sublime try before it was canceled for a half-toe in touch. These twenty good minutes confirmed the countless qualities of the Teros as well as their reputation as a difficult team to face.
They pushed the French XV to their limits, greatly disrupted Italy and beat Namibia: despite their elimination, the Uruguayans succeeded in their World Cup. “We can be proud of what we have done. We have nothing to reproach ourselves for. We had a great World Cup” welcomed captain Andres Vilaseca after the match.
At the end of these twenty minutes of resistance, the New Zealanders, fueled by South American approximations, began to crack their opponent’s defense. The men in black gradually accelerated to rush into the spaces offered by the fatigue of the Uruguayan team. As the second half progressed, they were more and more powerless to turn back the dark waves and the score grew on the scoreboard.
Applied until the last second of the 80e minute, the All Blacks avoided the pitfalls that await teams having just scattered an opponent of the caliber of Italy: the big head and the relaxation.
The few young players who discovered the atmosphere of World Cup matches within the New Zealand team did not have to look far to find an example of seriousness and consistency. This evening he wore the flocked tunic of number four: against Uruguay, the second row Samuel Whitelock was not the most visible, but he played his 150e match with the black jersey. Having already become the most capped All Black in history during the previous meeting, ahead of legend Richie McCaw, he is now also the rugby player who has played the most World Cup matches.
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