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Chile will finish on-field preparations for Rugby World Cup 2023 on Saturday. Los Cóndores take on the Argentina XV in an uncapped World Cup warm-up fixture in Temuco. It is the second of two matches between the teams this month and Chile’s fourth and final warm-up match.
Chile are coached by Uruguayan legend Pablo Lemoine. He played at Rugby World Cups 1999 and 2003 and coached Uruguay to Rugby World Cup 2015, doing so after failures to qualify for the 2007 and 2011 tournaments.
Lemoine only added his value when taking-over Chile. Under Lemoine, Chile qualified for a first-ever Rugby World Cup. Los Cóndores’ match against the Argentina XV on Saturday is the last dance before the first dance on the biggest sage of them all.
Chile’s debut will be against the Rugby World Cup 2019 hosts. In addition to being against Japan ,the match will be in the French rugby heartland of Toulouse.
Lemoine’s line-up to face the Argentina XV features eight changes from the team that last took to the field. Chile had a great start against Namibia but collapsed in the final quarter. The 28-26 defeat was heart-breaking for the players.
Chile’s line-up against the Argentina XV features a combustion of players certain to feature against Japan and others getting game-time before the trip to France.
Regular captain Martín Sigren will lead the side from flanker. Raimundo Martínez gets a start at the back of the scrum and Diego Escobar will have an opportunity at hooker.
The backs see José Ignacio Larenas starting at inside center and Lukas carvallo at scrum-half. Meanwhile, continuity sees Santiago Videla and Iñaki Ayarza on the wing and at fullback. Their regular positions are elsewhere, but this is where they have been playing for their country in the warm-up matches.
The Argentina XV were not impressive in their outing last weekend. Uruguay completed a solid win in Montevideo. Head Coach Ignacio Fernández Lobbe have made five changes from the 33-13 defeat. Facundo Pomponio comes in at tight head and Nicolás D’Amorim at flanker.
Meanwhile, 7’s wizard Luciano González Rizzoni will play again at inside center and former Pumitas captain Juan Pablo Castro will be outside him.
Rodrigo Fernández Criado was deemed as a Pumas option at second-row but has moved to flanker and now N8. Additional experimentation sees fly half Julián Hernández continuing at fullback, doing so despite Mateo Soler starting. Soler and Iñaki Delguy will be the wingers.
Chile will be looking for a strong send-off. Their appearance at the Estadio Germán Becker is truly historic; it is the final match before turning a far-fetched-dream into reality. It will be from Temuco to Toulouse and from facing the Argentina XV to facing Japan at the World Cup.
CHILE
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Matías Dittus, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Pablo Huete, 6 Martín Sigren (capt.), 7 Clemente Saavedra, 8 Raimundo Martínez, 9 Lukas Carvallo, 10 Rodrigo Fernández, 11 Franco Velarde, 12 José Ignacio Larenas, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Santiago Videla, 15 Iñaki Ayarza
Replacements: 16 Augusto Böhme, 17 Salvador Lues, 18 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 19 Javier Eissmann, 20 Ignacio Silva, 21 Alfonso Escobar, 22 Marcelo Torrealba, 23 Francisco Urroz
ARGENTINA XV
1 Javier Corvalán, 2 Boris Wenger, 3 Facundo Pomponio, 4 Lautaro Simes, 5 Federico Lavanini, 6 Nicolás D’Amorim, 7 Lorenzo Colidio, 8 Rodrigo Fernández Criado, 9 Rafael Iriarte, 10 Joaquín de la Vega Mendía (capt.), 11 Mateo Soler, 12 Luciano González Rizzoni, 13 Juan Pablo Castro, 14 Iñaki Delguy, 15 Julián Hernández
Replacements: 16 Ramiro Gurovich, 17 Santiago Pulella, 18 Javier Coronel, 19 Eliseo Fourcade, 20 Benjamín Grondona, 21 Ignacio Inchauspe, 22 Benjamín Elizalde, 23 Ernesto Giudice
RWC Warm-Up
Date: Saturday, August 26
Kick-Off: 5pm (Chile); 6pm (Argentina)
Venue: Estadio Germán Becker (Temuco, Chile)
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Damian Schneider (Argentina); Cauã Ricardo (Brazil)
vs
COMPLETE RESULTS
Aug 05, 2023 – Chile 13-40 Argentina XV (Antofagasta, CL)
Sep 15, 2021 – Chile 25-24 Argentina XV (Santiago, CL)
Oct 17, 2020 – Argentina XV 25-24 Chile (Montevideo, Uruguay)
May 18, 2019 – Argentina XV 55-03 Chile (Tucumán, Argentina)
Mar 09, 2019 – Chile 10-85 Argentina XV (Santiago, Chile)
Jan 23, 2019 – Argentina XV 47-14 Chile (La Boya, Argentina)
Feb 10, 2018 – Argentina XV 57-12 Chile (Ushuaia, Argentina)
June 03, 2017 –Chile 15-31 Argentina XV (Santiago, Chile)
Feb 18, 2017 – Chile 10-45 Argentina XV (Concepción, Chile)
Jun 04, 2016 – Chile 12-87 Argentina XV (Santiago, Chile)
Feb 13, 2016 – Argentina XV 52-15 (San Juan, Argentina)
Argentina XV Wins: 10
Chile Wins: 1
