Wales beat Uruguay 35-13 on Sunday 13 October at Kumamoto Stadium, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kumamoto City to top Pool D and will France in the quarterfinals. Wales had a narrow 7-6 lead at the break.
Wales moved to 4-0 after opening the 2019 Rugby World Cup with a 43-14 win over Georgia, a 29-25 win over Australia, and 29-17 win over Fiji, before beating Uruguay.
Uruguay opened with a 30-27 win over Fiji, lost 33-7 to Georgia, lost 45-10 to Australia. and exited the RWC after losing to Wales.
Pool D standings have Wales topping the pool with 19 points, Australia with 16 points, Fiji 7, Georgia 5, and Uruguay 4. Wales will meet France in the quarterfinal against France, while Australia faces England.
Match Recap
Wales had the first scoring chance after captain Justin Tipuric broke down the wing and a Hallam Amos offload to Aaron Wainwright had the No.8 losing the ball over in-goal.
Wales had another chance from a scrum with a Josh Adams break and an Aled Davies offload to Aaron Shingler who dove in the corner. after a TMO, Shingler was ruled to have had a knee in touch with a penalty advantage being played for an offsides call.
Wales kept up a sustained attack with referee Angus Gardner warning Uruguay for continued defensive infringements.
In the 16th minute, after going through 14 phases, loosehead prop Nicky Smith scored his first test try from close range with Leigh Halfpenny slotting the extras to take a 7-0 lead.
Uruguay forced a turnover after a maul near midfield inside Welsh territory and Andres Vilaseca moved the team forward with Wales penalized for being offsides. Felipe Berchesi punished the infraction with a penalty goal to cut the lead to 7-3.
Uruguay attacked again from the restart, but a knock-on thwarted the attack and Wales countered from a scrum with Rhys Patchell and Owen Watkin offloads, the last forward as Hallam Amos grounded in-goal. A TMO than negated the try.
Both teams had a series of handling errors that stalled attacks. Wales still had the majority of possession and territory in the match so far.
The Welsh had a sustained attack of 12 phases and held on again after another Wales penalty to clear. That was the team’s fourth turnover in the match.
Wales was penalized again with Uruguay kicking for territory and a lineout attack inside Wales 22-meters. After another Wales penalty, Berchesi slotted a penalty goal to cut the lead to 7-6.
Second Half
Wales had the first chance during the second half to extend the lead, however, Leigh Halfpenny penalty goal attempt went off the right post for a 22-meter drop.
Wales added a try by Josh Adams, his 5th of the RWC with Halfpenny adding the extras to lead 14-6.
The teams went back and forth for the next 17 minutes with Santiago Civetta sent off for too many infractions by Uruguay. Wales attacked from a lineout 5-meters from in-goal and a penalty try was awarded after a Maul infraction by Uruguay for a 21-6 lead.
Uruguay cut the lead to 21-13 after German Kessler scored from close range and Felipe Berchesi added the extras.
Tomos Williams quickly extended Wales lead with a try and a Halfpenny conversion. A Rhys Carre break was finished by Hallam Amos, but a knock-on was ruled, voiding the apparent try.
Wales added one more try in the 84th minute with Gareth Davies taking a quick tap following a penalty and racing untouched for a try. Halfpenny closed out the match with his boot in the 35-13 bonus point win for Wales.
Wales flanker Aaron Shingler was named Player of the Match.
Wales will meet France in the quarterfinals while Uruguay will be pleased with gaining a win over Fiji in the competition and in also in scoring tries in all their RWC matches in 2019.
Squads & Match Preview
Wales: 1 Nicky Smith, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Dillon Lewis, 4 Bradley Davies, 5 Adam Beard, 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 Justin Tipuric (capt.), 8 Aaron Wainwright, 9 Aled Davies, 10 Rhys Patchell, 11 Hallam Amos, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 13 Owen Watkin, 14 Josh Adams, 15 Leigh Halfpenny 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Wyn Jones, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 James Davies, 22 Tomos Williams, 23 Gareth Davies
Uruguay: 1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Germán Kessler, 3 Diego Arbelo, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.), 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Santiago Arata, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 11 Nicolás Freitas, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Juan Manuel Cat, 14 Leandro Leivas, 15 Gastón Mieres 16 Guillermo Pujadas, 17 Juan Echeverría, 18 Juan Pedro Rombys, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Manuel Diana, 21 Agustin Ormaechea, 22 Tomas Inciarte, 23 Rodrigo Silva
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