Argentina A have been crowned champions of the inaugural IRB Nations Cup after defeating hosts Portugal 24-19 in a cracking match in Lisbon's University Stadium on Saturday evening.

After a successful introduction into the international Rugby calendar, it was fitting that the tournament should end on a high with two thrilling matches in front of a sizeable crowd in perfect conditions for open running rugby.

Argentina, the only undefeated side in the competition, ran in just two tries against a committed Portugal outfit, while Italy A were pushed all the way by a committed Russia side in the opening match. Italy A eventually ran out 32-29 winners.

The City of Lisbon and the people of Portugal have totally embraced a tournament that has not just raised the profile of the Game in the country, but also one that has provided a competitive tournament for Tier 1 Nation A sides as well as providing a development tool for Tier 3 Nations.

Italy A 32, Russia 29

Italy A ended the IRB Nations Cup on a winning note, signing off with a maximum points victory over Russia to secure second place in the final standings.

While overall victory in the competition is the aim that all teams strive for, the real victory for the Italians as well as Argentina A is that of development. This tournament has proven to be a successful platform for creating a competitive pathway for promising young players from Age grade level up to full Test level.

Leading 22-10 at the interval, Italy A looked to be in complete control of the match, but Russia A, who caused the upset of the competition by comfortably defeating Portugal in Round One, nearly pulled off a remarkable victory, scoring three second half tries to give the Italians a big scare.

Italy started the match well, scoring 10 points without reply after centre Claudio Spadaro crossed in the tenth minute for a try which was converted by Luciano Orquera, who added a penalty minutes later to give the Italians a 10-0 lead.

Russia though did not buckle and hit back with the first of a brace of tries from powerful back rower Andre Garbouzov. Alexey Korobeynikov's conversion, added to an earlier penalty, tied the scores.

However, Italy A finished the half the stronger, scoring tries through number eight Robert Mandelli and winger Ludovic Onitoglia to turn around 22-10 to the good.

Russia, though, were not finished and Garbouzov's second converted try hauled the Tier 3 Nation to just five points adrift of the Italians.

Thereafter, the scores came blow for blow as Claudio Spadaro's converted try was followed by a try from Alexey Karobeynikov to maintain the five point gap.

However, Orquera's penalty gave Italy A a degree of breathing space with an eight point lead, but Russia's late try through lock Valery Fedchenko ensured a grandstand finish to the match with ten minutes to go. However, Italy A clung on to secure a maximum-point victory.

Portugal 19, Argentina A 24

In the second game of the afternoon, Argentina A had to come from behind to secure a 24-19 victory over hosts Portugal in a thrilling final match at the University of Lisbon Stadium.

Argentina A finished the inaugural competition undefeated, but Portugal delighted the home fans with a display which was yet another step up from the 26-26 draw with Italy A in the previous round, highlighting the value of this new competition as a developmental tool.

Roared on by a vociferous home support, Portugal established a 16-8 half time lead, despite falling behind to an early Francis Comerello try and Juan Guthier penalty. A try by Pedro Carlvalho added to three penalties and a conversion by Goncarlo Malheiro gave the home side a surprise eight point half time advantage.

Argentina A, have been the most consistent side in the competition, and rallied early in the second half to score thirteen points without reply to overhaul a committed Portugal side who were phenomenal in defence.

Hernan Senillosa crossed early in the second half for a try which was converted by Juan Guthier to claw Argentina A back into the game before Guthier's penalty gave the visitors the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the match. Senillosa's well-struck drop goal extended the advantage to 21-16.

Portugal did reduce the deficit to just three points through the boot of Malherio to set up a thrilling finish, but Senillosa settled affairs in the 80th minute with a penalty to ensure that Argentina finished the competition undefeated as champions.

IRB NATIONS CUP ROUND THREE DETAILS

PORTUGAL: 1 CRISTIAN SPACHUK (REDIERO), 2 MARCELO VARGAS, 3 JOAQUIM FERREIRA,4 GONCALO UVA,5 DAVID PENALVA,6 DIOGO COUTINHO, 7 PAULO MURINELLO, 8 VASCO UVA JOSE PINTO, 9 GONCALO MALHEIRO, 10 PEDRO CARVALHO, 11 DIOGO MATEUS, 12 FREDERICO SOUSA, 13 MIGUEL MORAIS (ACOSTA), 14 ANTONIO AGUILAR, 15 GONCALO ALPUIM, 16 RUI CO REDEIRO, 17 MARCEL O DIAS, 18 MANUEL PEREIRA, 19 EDUARDO ACOSTA, 21 DUARTE PINTO,22 PEDRO LEAL

TRIES: CARLVALHO
CONS: MALHERIO
PENS: MALHEIRO (4)

ARGENTINA A 1 DANIEL RODRIGUEZ, 2 EUSEBIO GUINAZU (MARTIN), 3 PABLO CARDINALI, 4 PABLO BOUZA (C), 5 ESTEBAN LOZADA, 6 AUGUSTO PETRILLI, 7 MARIANO LORENZETI, 8 GENARD FESSIA (GALINDO), 9 NICOLAS VERGALLO, 10 MARCELO BOSCH, 11 FRANCISCO MERELO, 12 JUAN GAUTHIER, 13 HERNAN SENILLOSA, 14 HORACIO AGULLA, 15 BERNARDO STORTONI, 16 AGUSTIN COSTA REPETO, 17 GASTON DE ROBERTIS, 18 JAIME ARACENA, 19 ALBARO GALINDO, 20 LUCIO LOPEZ FLEMING, 21 AGUSTIN DURAN, 22 HORACIO SAN MARTIN

TRIES: COMERELLO, SENILLOSA
CONS: GUTHIER
PENS: GUTHIER (3)
DROPS: SENILLOSA

REF: PETER FITZGIBBON (IRFU)

ITALY A: 1 MICHELE RIZZO (BRANCALION), 2 LUIGI FERRARO, 3 LORENZO GILLASINI, 4 ANTONIO PAUANELLO (PAVANELLO), 5 VALERIO BERNABO, 6 ENRICO PAUANELO (DAL MASO), 7 AROON PERSICO, 8 ROBERTO MANDELLI, 9 PIETRO TRAVAGLI, 10 LUCIANO ORQUERA, 11 LUDOVIC O NITOGLIA, 12 CLAUDIO SPADARO, 13 MATTEO BARBINI, 14 WALTER POZZEBON, 15 MARCO STANOJEVIC, 16 EMANUELE BRANCALION, 17 LUIGI MILANI, 18 ANTONIO PAVANELLO, 19 DAVID DAL MASO, 20 PINO PATELLI, 21 GABRIEL PIZZARRO, 22 SAMUELE PACE

TRIES: SPADARO (2), MANDELLI, ONITOGLIA,
CONS: ORQUERA 3
PENS: ORQUERA 2

RUSSIA: 1 ALEXANDER KHROKIN, 2 ROMAN ROMAK,3 SERGEY POPOV(PREISHEPENKO),4 VALERY FEDCHENKO,5 SERGEY SERGEEV,6 ANDRE GARBOUZOV (NOVOSELOV), 7 ARTEM FATACHOV, 8 VIACHESLAV GRACHEV, 9 ALEXANDER SHAKIROV (MOTORIN), 10 ALEXEY KOROBEYNIKOV, 11 MAXIM KONCHAKOV, 12 YURI KUSHNAREV, 13 YAROSLAV RECHNEV, 14 AUDREY KUZIN, 15 VALERY IGNATIEV (ZUBAREV), 16 VLADIMIR MARCHENKO, 17 SERGEY NOVOSELOV, 18 IVAN PRISHEPENKO, 19 VICTOR MOTORIN, 20 KIRILL KUSHNARUVE, 21 DMITRY ZUBAREV, 22 SERGEY TRISHIN

TRIES: GARBOUZOV (2), KAROBEYNIKOV, FEDCHENKO
CONS: KAROBEYNIKOV (2), KUSHNAREV
PEN: KOROBEYNIKOV

REF: ANDREW MACPHERSON (SRU)

IRB NATIONS CUP FINAL STANDINGS


P W D L PF PA PD BP PTS
1 ARGENTINA A 3 3 0 0 114 36 78 2 14
2 ITALY A 3 1 1 1 69 81 -12 1 7
3 RUSSIA 3 1 0 2 72 113 -45 3 7
4 PORTUGAL 3 0 1 2 62 87 -25 1 4