There are few better ways to change a trend than the one carried out this Saturday by Castilla y León Iberians at the Estádio Universitario de Lisboa, where the good defensive work of the team led by Miguel Velasco ‘Miguelón’, Added to his effectiveness in attack, he made the Castilian and Leonese franchise win for the first time against Lusitanos, which also serves to conquer the leadership of the Western Conference.
Lusitanos began pressing on the visiting 22nd, but the problems for the Castilian and Leonese franchise were quickly undone, with a very long kick to follow by Carrió that, although it did not find the objective, it did allow Bell to start a run breaking through the Portuguese back to find captain Casteglioni and score the first try of the afternoon with only 2 minutes remaining.
The group led by ‘Miguelón’ also knew how to hold up in defense, also facing the numerical inferiority caused by a sin bin to Bustos in the 7th minute. However, after several stopped Luso attacks, a move born on the sideline would end up finding Guedes to put Lusitanos ahead with a mark next to the pennant in the 16th minute that he himself certified with his foot.
And Castilla y León Iberians recovered their advantage shortly after, after a blow taken to the side by Carrió. After the oval was put into play from the touche, a good touch from Bustos to regain possession caused several phases of pick and go that Casañas ended up materializing under the sticks to make it 7-12 in the 19th minute, with a transformation by Carrió. But it didn’t take long for Lusitanos to hit again, with a great run by Guedes down the right wing that disconcerted the Castilian and Leonese defense, to find Cardoso unmarked, who entered the scoring area to establish the equalizer in the minute 23.
Without a clear dominator, the following minutes passed, reflecting on the lawn of the University Stadium the high level of both teams, both aware of how much was at stake in this match, with loss of possession by both sides, and without clear attack actions before passing through the changing rooms. On the way back from the locker room it was Castilla y León Iberians who tried, but a distant penalty kick kicked by Carrió went slightly off target. Disrupting all the Portuguese options in attack, the players led by ‘Miguelón’ tried again with another kick to the sticks after fifteen minutes, but Carrió’s attempt went wide again.
The Castilian and Leonese franchise found the prize for their good work during the second half in the 63rd minute, with a great maul mounted after a lateral kick, which entered the Portuguese marking area with enormous effectiveness to put a new test, Moala’s work, which unbalanced the score until 12-17. With a defense of the highest level, Castilla y León Iberians managed to nullify the options that Lusitanos had in the 22 away zone, managing to assert their advantage on the scoreboard.
Several more attempts would continue trying to increase the advantage of the Castilian and Leonese franchise, but, although they did not bear fruit, the score ended up being favorable to the team led by ‘Miguelón’, who became leader of the Western Conference of the Rugby Europe SuperCup 2022/ 2. 3. The Castilla y León Iberians coach stated at the end of the match that he was “very happy”. “It has been seen that we are a very united group. We knew that we were coming to a very difficult field, but also that we could win, because we believe in ourselves”.
Regarding the development of the meeting, Velasco analyzed it in the following terms: “The game started very hard, with some problems and mistakes. The team has been able to correct them, and turn the game around, to go from being dominated to dominating. We have achieved a deserved victory, which makes us lead the group, but we have to continue working in the two remaining games”