Records fall as Uruguay rout Chile

Uruguay got their Americas Rugby Championship back on track with a record-setting rout of Chile at the Estadio de La Pintana in Santiago. Nine tries were their most over against the Cóndores. The final score read 67-15, also setting records in points scored and points differential.

The opening quarter was evenly matched on the scoreboard as Tomás Ianiszewski and Germán Albanell each landed penalty goals. It was Chile, however, who were getting the better of the two with Uruguay back on their heels and struggling to gain possession.

That momentum would come crashing down as Manuel Diana scored from a rolling maul as the Uruguayan forwards began to exert their dominance. A rapidly-rising penalty count led the referee to send Matías Balbontín to the sin bin and Albanell took the immediate points.

With the man advantage Los Teros would score two further tries. Javier Lavanderos dropped the ball cold and Leandro Leivas was there to pick it up and run half the field for the first. The second would be a similar long-range score, with a turnover finding Federico Favaro clear down the left wing.

Once back to full strength Los Cóndores caught their wind just before halftime. A flowing attack pulled in the Uruguayan defense and with a two-man overlap Nikola Bursic instead chose to blast through the line and dive over for a try to make the score 27-8 at the break.

Chile got a bit of luck early in the second half. A loose pass was snapped up by Balbontín and the winger raced clear against the run of play to give Los Cóndores some hope.

Unfortunately That would be the end of their positive contributions for the day. Favaro went over for his second almost immediately from the restart and then Diana got his double, a pushover at a scrum.

If there was any life left in the Chileans it was drained when their discipline again broke down. Balbontín’s late and dangerous tackle on Albanell earned his second yellow card and with that red, and Los Cóndores would be shorthanded for the remainder.

Andrés De León went over from the overlap and Gastón Mieres got an intercept of his own. An indiscretion after the try was scored put Francisco de la Fuente in the bin and reduced Chile down to 13 men. Another pushover try was given to Diana, his third of the day, and Manuel Blengio wrapped up the scoring with a long-range effort.

The bonus point means that Los Teros still have an outside chance to claim the ARC title, but to do so they will have to not only score a bonus point win over the USA in Montevideo but also hold the Eagles to less than four tries. They’ll also need the Argentina XV to stumble against Canada or Brazil. Chile will stay in Santiago and regroup before hosting Canada in their final match of the 2018 ARC campaign.

 

SCORING

CHILE 15
Tries – N. Bursic (40’), M. Balbontín (45’)
Cons – T. Ianiszewski 1/2 (46’)
Pens – T. Ianiszewski 1/2 (10’)
Yellow cards – M. Balbontín (21’), F. de la Fuente (64’)
Red cards – M. Balbontín (56’)

URUGUAY 67
Tries – M. Diana 3 (19’, 52’, 69’), L. Leivas (25’), F. Favaro 2 (31’, 47’), A. De León (58’), G. Mieres (64’), M. Blengio (73’)
Cons – G. Albanell 4/5 (20’, 26’, 32’, 53’), F. Favaro 1/1 (59’), A. De León 3/3 (65’, 70’, 74’)
Pens – G. Albanell 2/2 (14’, 21’)

 

TEAMS

CHILE
1 Vittorio Lastra (17 Sebastián Otero 62’), 2 Tomás Dussaillant (16 Rodrigo Moya 58’), 3 Claudio Iturra (18 Basilio Díaz 51’), 4 Nikola Bursic, 5 Mario Mayol (19 Nicolás Garafulic 51’), 6 Javier Richard (capt.), 7 Anton Petrowitsch, 8 Benjamín Soto (20 Alfonso Escobar 55’), 9 Domingo Saavedra (21 Beltrán Vergara 55’), 10 José Tomás Baraona (22 Benjamín Pizarro 55’), 11 Ítalo Zunino, 12 Francisco de la Fuente, 13 Javier Lavanderos (23 Diego Ramírez HT), 14 Matías Balbontín, 15 Tomás Ianiszewski

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti (16 Matías Benítez 46’), 2 Germán Kessler (17 Carlos Arboleya 66’), 3 Juan Echeverría (18 Felipe Inciarte 60’), 4 Ignacio Dotti (20 Diego Magno HT), 5 Diego Ayala (19 Juan Manuel Etcheverry 66’), 6 Rodolfo Garese, 7 Juan Diego Ormaechea, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Tomás Inciarte, 10 Germán Albanell (21 Andrés De León 56’), 11 Federico Favaro (23 Manuel Blengio 60’), 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Joaquín Prada, 14 Leandro Leivas, 15 Rodrigo Silva (22 Gastón Mieres HT)

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Henrique Platais (CBRu)