NICE, France (AP) — Italy captain Michele Lamaro was on his knees, arms wide, as if to say, “What happened?”
What happened was he'd just been mugged by Manuel Ardao.
Lamaro would end up being man of the match of Italy's 38-17 comeback win over Uruguay at the Rugby World Cup on Wednesday but his opposite Ardao made the greater impression with one of the tournament's brilliant solo performances.
Ardao pulled off five turnovers in the first 45 minutes, virtually unheard of on rugby's biggest stage let alone by a tier two player.
On the TV commentary he was called Uruguay's “Michael Hooper.” Italy assistant coach Marius Goosen likened Ardao to another Australia great, David Pocock.
“We were playing a little bit too much in our own half, giving their No. 6 (Ardao) opportunities to turn us over, which he did brilliantly,” Goosen said on Thursday. "He's a master at that.
“There's probably only two or three guys in world rugby at the moment that have the skill that No. 6 has around the breakdown — like Pocock used to have.”
The effort was no fluke. In Uruguay's tournament opener against France, Ardao got three turnovers, an impressive amount any day. When Uruguay last played Italy in 2021, the socks-down flanker got three of their four turnovers in a 17-10 loss.
While Los Teros faded mentally and physically in the second half on Wednesday after leading Italy 17-7 at halftime, Ardao was relentless to the end, also collecting eight carries and nine tackles. He should have had a try, too, but a penalty try was awarded instead.
To Uruguayans, the performance was nothing new.
Manuel followed his brother Diego into Old Christians club and the Uruguay Sevens. But Manuel also moved on to the Los Teros 15s and went to the 2019 Rugby World Cup. He got his first professional contract in 2020 at Penarol, Uruguay's Superliga Americana club team and was named the league's best player in 2022. He's going to the new Miami Sharks next year when Major League Rugby expands.
He turned 25 at the start of this Rugby World Cup and has not reached his prime years, but his game against Italy was incredible by any measure.
He jackalled Italy hooker Giacomo Nicotera in the ninth minute. Lamaro was next, even while Ardao had Nicotera and Juan Ignacio Brex smothering him.
Turnover No. 3 was when he trapped Italy's Paolo Garbisi and earned a penalty. Two minutes later, a counter-ruck started by teammate Felipe Aliaga saw Ardao scoop up the ball and recycle.
Italy's frustration with Ardao was evident after half an hour when Italy prop Ivan Nemer rammed him from behind after the whistle and grinned. Following medical attention, Ardao flashed on to spilled ball beside an Italy ruck.
After halftime, he ripped the ball out of the hands of grounded Italy lock Federico Ruzza, while being tackled by Tommaso Allan.
“We showed we are 30 or 40 minutes away from competing as equals with other tier one nations,” Ardao said. “Uruguay has grown a lot, although there is a lot we need to get right and improve. We have to keep growing.”
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AP Rugby World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
