It was a drama-filled day one at the Perth HSBC SVNS Series tournament at HBF Park, full of upsets and storylines, none more thrilling than the golden-point clash between defending Perth champions Argentina and the USA.
The defending champions started off with a hiss and a roar, as Luciano Gonzalez opened the scoring in the second minute, when he strolled in under the posts after accelerating through a wide-open USA defence.
He converted his try, putting Argentina up 7-0 early on against the “Eagles”. Argentina’s Tomas Elizalde was then able to cross the white line, to give the defending champions a 12-0 lead halfway through the first half.
A fantastic pass from USA’s Will Chevalier put Marcus Tupuola through the defence to wrestle the momentum back towards the Eagles just before halftime.
That momentum created by the try on the stroke of halftime seemed to motivate the USA in the early stages of the second half, with an outstanding try from David Still giving the USA the 14-12 lead.
The try from Still was an exceptional bit of footwork, completely wrong-footing the oncoming Argentinan defender.
A simple draw and pass from the Argeninan playmaker Joaquin Pellandini put the ball on a plate for Santiago Alvarez , who was able to put Argentina’s leading margin to five points with under two minutes remaining.
If you thought this game couldn’t get any better, you’re in for a surprise. The Eagles speedster David Still was dancing around with the ball before finding his captain Jack Wendling, who was equal to the task as he fended off a resurgent Marcos Moneta trying to bring him down.
The scores were tied at 19-19 before the kick from Faitala Talapusi went wide of the posts to send the game to overtime.
Up stepped Talapusi again, just after missing the crucial conversion, to burst away through a huge defensive hole to upset the defending Perth SVNS champions in a blockbuster at HBF Park.
Argentina has made it through to the semi-final stage of the tournament, coming up against Spain at 8:05 PM NZT.
USA will play for 11th and 12th against Ireland at 6:30 PM NZT, after losing to Kenya last night 26-21.
