Chile defeat Kenya at Cup of Nations

Chile got their November campaign off to the best possible start as they defeated Kenya by a convincing score of 23-3 at King’s Park in Hong Kong on Friday. A slow start to the game saw the score only 6-3 at the break, but Los Cóndores came out firing in the second half to score two tries and 17 unanswered points to earn the victory.

Tomás Ianiszewski had a memorable match, the fullback scoring 18 points in all with three penalty goals, one try, and two conversions. His first points came on his second attempt at goal as the first sailed past the uprights. Darwin Mukidza replied for Kenya but Ianiszewski added one more just before halftime to keep Chile in the lead.

The opening period saw both teams making errors and neither able to seriously threaten the line but for one Chilean attack that resulted in a knock-on with the line at their mercy. It was a different story in the second half, however, as Kenya began to fade and a dominant Cóndores scrum kept them on the retreat.

At last a try came in the 56th minute when debutante Santiago Videla poked a delicate grubber kick through the line for Ianiszewski to dive on for the score. An almost identical play nearly yielded a try for Franco Velarde just a couple minutes later, but this time Videla’s kick bounced awkwardly and the left winger couldn’t quite control the ball.

It wouldn’t matter in the end as only Chile would score from then out. Another driving scrum resulted in a penalty and Benjamín Soto opted to take on the line himself rather than wait for points, and the No 8 had just enough strength to wrestle his way over for the try. Ianiszewski converted and added one more penalty goal to round out the scoring.

Along with Videla there were five further test debuts for Chile. Ignacio Guajardo, Marco Díaz, Bastián Burguener, Javier Lavanderos, and Matías Balbontín each won their first cap as a second half replacement.

Los Cóndores will now have three days to rest before they face off against hosts Hong Kong, again at King’s Park. Kenya will look for improvement against Russia, who awaits Chile on Saturday, November 18 at HFKC Stadium.

 

SCORING

KENYA 3
Pens – D. Mukidza 1/1 (26’)

CHILE 23
Tries – T. Ianiszewski (56’), B. Soto (66’)
Cons – T. Ianiszewski 2/2 (57’, 67’)
Pens – T. Ianiszewski 3/5 (18’, 38’, 70’)

 

TEAMS

KENYA
1 Moses Amusala (17 Oscar Simiyu 58’), 2 Peter Karia (16 Philip Ikambili 58’), 3 Curtis Lilako (18 Dennis Karani 58’), 4 Wilson Kopondo (capt.), 5 Oliver Mang’eni, 6 George Nyambua, 7 Davis Chenge (19 Eric Kerre 5’-10’, 63’), 8 Joshua Chisanga (20 Lyle Asiligwa 74’), 9 Samson Onsomu (22 Peter Kilonzo 71’), 10 Nato Simiyu (21 Biko Adema 71’), 11 Jacob Ojee, 12 Leo Seje, 13 David Ambunya (23 Vincent Mose 71’), 14 Darwin Mukidza, 15 Tony Onyango

CHILE
1 Claudio Zamorano (17 Vittorio Lastra 47’), 2 Tomás Dussaillant (16 Ignacio Guajardo 61’), 3 José Tomás Munita (18 Marco Díaz 72’), 4 Nikola Bursic (19 Bastián Burguener 74’), 5 Mario Mayol, 6 Javier Richard (20 Manuel Dagnino 61’), 7 Anton Petrowitsch, 8 Benjamín Soto, 9 Sergio Bascuñan (21 Juan Pablo Perrotta 47’), 10 Santiago Videla, 11 Franco Velarde (23 Javier Lavanderos 79’), 12 Francisco de la Fuente (23 Javier Lavanderos 73’-79’), 13 José Ignacio Larenas (capt.), 14 Mauricio Urrutia (22 Matías Balbontín 47’), 15 Tomás Ianiszewski

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Maxime Burlet (FBRB)
Assistants: Stephen Copeman (HKRFU) & Patrick Kwok (HKRFU)
TMO: Peter White (HKRFU)