Horse & Hound – 01 August 2019

1 August 2019 Horse&Hound

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RESULTS

ARGENTINA 14 FRASERS

ENGLAND 6

Argentina(27):1, A Pieres(4);2,J

Britos(7);3,B Castagnola(6);Bk,F

Pieres(10)

FrasersEngland(27):1, J Beim(7);2,

OCudmore(6);3,J Richardson(7);Bk,

J Harper(7)

A MERGINGOFDISCIPLINES

SINCEbeingtakenonbyJamieMorrisonandRCBPCin2018,the

HPA’sInternationalDayhashada verydifferentfeelcomparedto

itsmanyyearsinresidencyatGuardsjustuptheroad.Onceagain,

thepolowassupplementedbyplentyofpitchsideactivity,aswell

asaninsightfuldressagemasterclassbyOlympicgoldmedallist

CarlHester,whobroughttwoofhisOlympichorses—hisLondon

2012 partnerUthopiaandhisRio 2016 rideNipTuck(pictured).

It’saninnovativeattempttohelpintegratetwo

verydifferentsports.Althoughthepercentageof

masterclassattendantswhostayedonforthepolo

willremaintobeseen,a drivetointroduceboth

disciplinestofreshaudiencescanonlybepositive.

TALKING

POINT

the 2018 Gold Cup and 2019
Queen’s Cup as part of the Scone
team. Jack Richardson and Ollie
Cudmore, both still in their 20s,
have firmly cemented their place
among the nation’s elite, and if
any English quartet was finally
going to quench Argentina, it was
likely to be this one.
But it was not to be. Argentina
shot out of the blocks like hungry
terriers, swarming all over the
slightly shell-shocked English
players, who could barely keep
hold of the ball in the opening
stages. Within five minutes,
the visitors were 4-0 up and
concerned murmurs started to
circulate the stands as spectators
wondered how England could
possibly avoid a total thrashing.

The domination continued as

the second chukka got underway,

with 18-year-old six-goaler

Bartolomé Castagnola belying

his tender age to score his side’s

sixth goal. This is the teenager’s

first year playing in England and,

having lifted the Gold Cup just

last week as a member of the

Dubai team, he is clearly feeling

quite at home here.

But the England boys proved

resilient. Seven-goaler Richardson

finally put a score on the board

for the home side, surviving a

brutal ride-off to strike the ball

between Argentina’s goalposts at

last. Suddenly, England looked to

have their blood up and, although

Facundo added another goal to

his already hefty haul, the English

boys did well to temper several

other Argentine attempts.

England opened the third with

a successful penalty by Cudmore,

followed by a strong attack

from Richardson, but he was

hooked out of it by the incessant

Castagnola, who found Facundo

on Lovelocks Newcastle, just one

of his seemingly endless stream of

lightning-fast ponies. A rare miss

from the 10-goaler looked like a

chance for England to capitalise,

but instead it was Juan Britos who

pinched the ball back and flew

through the posts with it.

Both teams put another on

the board before half-time, Beim

neatly finishing a Richardson

drive with a skilful under-the-tail

shot, but the score was 9-3 as the

second half got underway. A team

talk at half-time clearly did the

English players good, however, as

they were producing faster, more

fluid polo, taking chances with the

ball and passing boldly.

They were rewarded with

two super goals in the fourth

chukka, while Argentina could put

away only one, courtesy again of

Facundo’s stick and his marvellous

mare Twitter, later named best

playing pony.

PLAYING FOR PRIDE

THE intensity of the match

ramped up, with England

attacking strongly and, as

commentator Karl Ude-Martinez

observed, many a team have

fought back from a six-goal deficit

in the past.

A drive from Harper after a

good Cudmore backhand looked

promising until he had to dodge

round an umpire and overcooked

his shot. Beim was quick to regain

control of the ball until Britos

snatched it back in a dogged

manner that characterised the

26-year-old’s game and earned

him the most valuable player title.

A Richardson penalty was

stopped, but he made up for it by

flicking the ball in for 11-6. With a

Britos goal turning out to be after

the umpire’s whistle, that was how

the scoreboard stayed going into

the final chukka.

Sadly for England, that was

how their side of the board

remained for the rest of the

match. A goal from Castagnola

and one apiece from each of the

Pieres cousins were unmatched by

a flagging English side, who were

forced to yield the great trophy to

the Argentines yet again.

“If you discounted the first

and last chukka, we were actually

level on goals,” mused Beim. “But

in that first chukka, they blew us

away and we just couldn’t get into

the game. To win was always going

to be a tough ask for us. They are

all more accustomed to playing

fast polo, whereas it took us a

while to get up to speed. After that

first chukka, we were really just

playing for pride.” H&H

Argentina’s star teenager, Barto Castagnola, streaks away from England’s James Harper and James Beim