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Lusitanos run in five tries to beat Iberians

The men’s Rugby Europe Super Cup for 2024 got off to a flying start at the weekend with an excellent Pool A match between Lusitanos and Castilla Y Leon Iberians.

The game was played at the CAR Jamor Complex in Lisbon and, in the end, it was the Portuguese hosts who came out on top over their Spanish visitors 36-18 with an all-important bonus point.

An early penalty from stand-off Manuel Vareiro put the hosts 3-0 up before a penalty from his opposite man Santiago Ortega made it 3-3 after 10 minutes.

Ten minutes later Iberians got the first try of this year’s competition on the board when back-row Alex Saleta went over for a converted effort.

Five minutes later Lusitanos hit back, winger Jose Paiva Dos Santos’s converted try making it 10-10 after 25 minutes.

Crucially for the home team they scored their second try just before half-time, a good team move seeing centre Gabriel Aviragnet put full-back Hugo Aubry away for the five points converted by Vareiro to make it 17-10 at the interval.

A penalty from replacement Gonzalo Otamendi for Iberians made it 17-13 after 56 minutes before, three minutes later, Lusitanos sub Diogo Rodrigues ran a great line to score their third try. Vareiro, who had missed a penalty just before, could not convert and it was 22-13.

It took until the 71st minute for the next points to come, a try by replacement Hugo Camacho converted by Vareiro making it 29-13 to the home side.

A brilliant quick tap penalty and ‘kick pass’ from Camacho then set up back-row Francisco Almeida for the icing on the cake and a fifth try, Vareiro converting for 36-13.

A late consolation effort then came from Iberians, Andres Petros, the sub, scoring an unconverted try as it finished 36-18.

Simon Mannix, the Lusitanos head coach, said:  “This win is very important for our progression as a group.

“A lot of young players got a chance to show what they can do and it was a very positive display given it as the first game in a while for most of the players. We will keep working hard a training to get better now.”

Their captain David Costa added: “We have only been together for a few weeks, so we have been trying to find our feet as a group, but at the end of the first half and into the second half things began to come together.”

Juan Carlos Perez Delgado, the head coach of Iberians, said:  “It was a tough game for us and they were very good on the counter attack, but we have played a match now as a group and we will keep working hard to get better.

“We will be looking at making less mistakes in the coming matches and we are keen to improve our kicking game.”

Pablo Rascon, the Iberians skipper, added:  “We need to work on our discipline and try to make less mistakes going forward.”

The Super Cup really cranks up a notch this coming weekend with reigning champions Black Lion from Georgia entering the fray in Pool A and two matches coming up in Pool B.

By Gary Heatly
Photos by Luis Cabelo

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