Colombia defied considerable odds to defeat Kazakhstan and march on to a duel with Scotland next Friday.
Not only did they stand eleven places below their opponents, but their No 8, Maribel Mestra, was shown a red card barely 14 minutes from the start. As her opponent tried to field a high kick, she launched into her with no sign of an attempted charge-down.
But by then Las Tucanes had already taken the upper hand, driving fiercely at the set-scrum and threatening the Kazakh line. The sisters, Leidy and Juliana Soto, might both have crossed, but for stern defence and an inaccurate pass.
Two minutes before the card Kat Roche awarded one of many penalties against the Kazakhs for not rolling away. Maria Arzuaga resumed her points-scoring heroics with a fine kick – she had scored all her side’s points in Nairobi.
The relatively low scoring in the game was the result of many unforced errors. Kazakhstan worked hard at the breakdown, but hardly ever realigned their runners to stretch defences. Instead, it was a one-out pass from the ruck and another arm-wrestle.
Colombia showed much more cohesion but found the defensive line hard to break down. On 34 minutes Kazakhstan lost their skipper, Yelena Yurova, to a yellow card, and they paid the penalty, the Tucanes scoring thanks to good work by Juliana Soto who got over in the corner.
Half-time: Kazakhstan 0 Colombia 8
So despite their one-player advantage for most of the first 40, the Kazakhs came empty away. They renewed their efforts and threatened the line, but a final pass was deemed forward.
They did get on the scoreboard, thanks to their No 9 Nigora Nurmatova. (5-8) But still they couldn’t take decisive advantage of the player advantage. Time and again alignment and handling were faulty, meaning more hard work for the pack to regain possession.
Colombia earned the right to take the game away from the Kazakhs in the final minutes. They kept them in their own half till Arzuaga was on the end of a fine move. She forced her way over to give her side breathing space.
Tension mounted again as Daiana Kazibekova drove through a ruck to score. The officials took their time deciding all was in order, but it was. (10-15)
The Tucanes showed great application by finishing the game inside their opponents’ 22, and sure enough, Arzuaga was on hand to add a final penalty.
The Kazakhs paid heavily for their lack of rugby, both club and international, over so long a period. It’s a sad end for them.
Result: Kazakhstan 10 Colombia 18
Player of the Match: Andrea Ramirez
Next Stop: Scotland v Colombia 25 February, Dubai
Congratulations once more to World Rugby for getting this game staged and to the two squads and their staffs for coming through such tough conditions to reach this point. It’s hard to imagine a more exotic set-up for a World Cup match, two teams from far-flung continents meeting up on a green pitch in the middle of a desert.
Colombia are the proud owners of a 100% winning record in internationals. They’ve beaten Brazil twice, then Kenya and now Kazakhstan.
Officials:
Referee: Kat Roche (USA)
ARs: Amber McLachlan (Aus) & Shanda Assmus (Can)
TMO: Ian Tempest (Eng)
