Argentina 28-12 Tonga: Julian Montoya sends warning to England as 26-minute hat-trick earns bonus point win

Rampant | Montoya scored a hat-trick inside the opening 30 minutes of the match
David Rogers/Getty Images
Richard Parry28 September 2019

Julian Montoya scored a hat-trick of tries inside the opening 30 minutes as Argentina made Tonga pay for a sluggish start in Osaka.

Montoya’s first two – each followed up with successful conversions from Benjamin Urdapilleta – were added to by Santiago Carreras as the 21-year-old scored his first try for Argentina after intercepting a poor offload and breaking free.

Montoya would have his third on 26 minutes – with Argentina securing the earliest bonus point at the Rugby World Cup so far.

Tonga were shaken – their sloppiness punished – but they somehow managed to stem the tide and killed out the bagel less than five minutes later when Telusa Veainu of the Leicester Tigers went down to score.

Sonatane Takulua scored the resulting conversion, and the deficit was reduced to 28-7.

Benjamin Urdapilleta Photo: AFP/Getty Images/Filippo Monteforte
AFP/Getty Images/Filippo Monteforte

Then, a moment of contention just before the break…

Tonga, attacking down the left side, found David Halaifonua and the Coventry wing looked odds-on to score before Tomas Lavanini put him into touch with what appeared a shoulder charge.

The TMO called man in touch, and referee Jaco Peyper said an attempt was made to wrap, and time was called.

Jaco Peyper Photo: AP Photo/Aaron Favila
AP Photo/Aaron Favila

Montoya was replaced just after the restart with former captain Agustin Creevy entering the game.

Montoya is now the highest-scoring hooker in World Cup history – he has six now – and it’s England up next for him and the Argentines next weekend. Today’s showing should act as a warning to Eddie Jones’ side.

As key as that decision before the break, the next try had the chance of setting the destiny of the match.

It took the best part of 30 second-half minutes to arrive, and it was Tonga who claimed it – as Veainu scored his second of the match. The following conversation was wide, however, the much-need boost had set in for the final ten minutes.

Argentine nerves were evident. When presented with a penalty chance to put pressure on Tonga they opted to kick for the first time in the match, from 42 metres, such was their apparent desperation to add more daylight to the scoreboard. It missed, unsurprisingly.

As devastating as Montoya and Argentina were in the opening half hour, the sloppiness and questionable defending that followed will send mixed messages to England.

On another day, against another side, they may have been punished.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in