Speechless. This is how the Spanish U20 Rugby XV team left us in their last match of the World Championship. Ricardo Martinena’s team was playing to stay among the 12 best teams in the world against Fiji, and in their first year playing in this tournament they managed to beat the Oceanians 24-19 and stay at the top level. In a match that had everything, including a comeback and two extra times to find out who would take the golden point, The Lions have once again shown that they have plenty of heart, rugby and courage and remain in the world’s Top 12 after having signed their promotion just a year ago.
The match started very evenly, with both teams trying to impose their game. The wind and rain made their presence felt in Cape Town again and hampered the Lions’ first attempts to score. After 31 minutes of stalemate and with each team having already received a yellow card, the fast Fijian third Ronald Sharma opened the scoring for his team, and a few minutes later was imitated by his compatriot Iowane Vakadrigi to go 14 points ahead on the scoreboard. Just before the break, and having managed to partially stop the disarray that the Pacific team was bringing to the match, Diego González posed first for the Spanishthe result of a powerful touch maul so that Spain went to half-time 5-14.
The second part began like the first, with Fijian players bringing chaos and speed to the pitchand the Spanish struggled to stop their constant attacks. This resulted in the second for Sharma, but a few minutes later Spain responded with a penalty try after a well-worked pick and go that their rivals only managed to stop with constant infringements.
Separated by just 7 points on the scoreboard, with 10 points remaining, the Oceanic team saw another yellow card and a red card for a dangerous tackle on Alberto Carmona, leaving the Spaniards with superiority. Nicholas Moletione of the standout men in Spain’s ranks at this World Cup, managed to land on the Fijian touchline and Otamendi’s foot tied the game at 19The most tense minutes of the match then began, with the Lions dominating possession, having the opportunity to try several times or shoot at goal to take the victory, but the strong wind forced them to play it safe and look at touch.
The horn sounded at the Athlone Sports Stadium and regulation time came to an end. It was time to play two 10-minute halves for the golden point, or in other words, the first to score would win the game. Spain had several clear chances with the three-quarters, but fatigue and the wet oval due to the weather conditions caused Los Leones to make unforced errors. In Fiji’s few forays, in the Spanish 22 they had the chance to shoot from 50 metres away, but the kick did not go in.
We reached the second part of extra time, with Spain determined to win the match. With the numerical equality restored on the field, Lucien Richardis took advantage of a hit from 60 meters to, with a tremendous kick, place a touch 5 meters from the rival try. And it was there that the Lions made history, with a clinical touch maul, in which practically the entire team joined, to propel David Gallego to the try line and sign a historic 24-19 victory for Spainwhich is worth remaining among the 12 best teams in the U20 category in the world.
