You wait twelve years for a try. Then two come along at once.
The final scoreline didn’t quite reflect the fairytale atmosphere produced by two excellent Uruguayan tries on Tuesday night, the first scores for the South American side in a World Cup since 2003, but although Uruguay finished their World Cup off with a heavy 47-15 defeat at the hands of Fiji, both sides, despite the Pacific Islanders’ three losses in this year’s competiton, can leave England 2015 with their heads held very, very high.
Fiji, free from the shackles of playing Tier 1 nations after unsuitably short rest periods, ran in seven tries to end their World Cup in blitzing fashion and make good on the all-round potential they had flashed over the previous fortnight.
But this was not a performance from your parent’s Fiji.
Yes there were the clinical, incisive counterattacks that sliced through the Uruguayan defence with ease – fullback Kini Murimurivalu’s length-of-the-field effort on 65 minutes the pick of them – but the Flying Fijians also showed a potency at the lineout and in the scrum that they had hinted at in their previous three games but were finally able to execute upon.
Fiji raced off to a flying start, scoring a penalty try from their first set of phases in the corner following a no-armed tackle on the impressive Lepani Botia in the process of the centre diving for the touchline. And scrum-half Nemia Kenatale’s excellent individual effort from the base of a 5m scrum five minutes later suggested a cricket score could be soon in the offing.
Uruguay’s historical moment however was soon to capture the imagination of the 30,000-strong crowd in Milton Keynes when hooker Carlos Arboleya Sarazola ran a perfect line in the Fijian 22 following a Urugayan break to clatter his way to a great individual story to take home with him to South America.
However any very faint and slim hopes of an even more-historical victory for Los Teros was soon curtailed by first, the dominant Fijian scrum pummeling their Uruguayan counterparts en route to a penalty try, before the delightfully free-running Leone Nakarawa ran in a fourth try under the posts after some trademark Fijian passing and running.
Bonus point and victory secured, the game settled down noticeably after the half-time break, although the game didn’t lack for ambitious attacking play from both sides, all thirty on-field players seemingly willing to attempt to run back the ball from anywhere on the pitch, much to the delight of the crowd at Stadium MK.
On 57 minutes however, the ecstasy of the Uruguayan following was palpable once again as scrum-half Agustin Ormaechea, who would be sent off 10 minutes following a second yellow-cardable offence, took advantage of the porous Fijian defence following a turnover to scamper over in the corner.
But that was the last moment Los Teros were to experience anything close to try-scoring jubilation as Fiji, for so often in this year’s tournament victims of this very occurence, utilized the advantage of tiring opposition to put their lower-ranked foes to the sword, running in three tries (Tevita Cavubati, the aformentioned Kini Murimurivalu effort, and Nemani Nadolo) in the game’s final seventeen minutes to ensure they depart England with some respectability.
Uruguay too, will depart the tournament grapsing new-found respect from the global community. But on this night, it will be for every different reasons than their victorious counterparts. Hopefully it won't be another twelve years before we see Uruguay celebrating once again.
