Chile and Argentina XV Compete until the death in Temuco

Los Cóndores said goodbye to their home supporters on Saturday. Chile’s final warm-up match ahead of Rugby World Cup 2023 was also Chile’s final match before debuting at the World Cup against Japan in Toulouse. Chile showed heart and courage and just fell short, losing 28-26 against the Argentina XV in Temuco.

Chile was the first team to score. Fly half come center come fullback come winger, Santiago Videla landed a 4th minute penalty. From there the match had a no shortage of back-and-forth as it was a match in which the lead changed hands on multiple occasions.

The Chileans looked to score the opening try. Instead, José Larenas lost the ball in contact on the floor. The Argentina XV picked up and scored 90 meters away following a break from Luciano González. The 7’s wizard found Iñaki Delguy who scored. The conversion was over for a 7-3 lead after 13 minutes.

An exchange of penalties from Joaquín de la Vega Mendía and Santiago Videla took the scorers to 10-6 after 26 minutes. The wrestle continued with de la Vega Mendía landing another penalty nine minutes from half-time. Chile then won a penalty from the restart which Videla turned into three points. 

Chile fought back to win at the interval. Rodrigo Fernández latched-on to intercept a pass inside Chiles’ own 22 and run over 80 meters to score near the posts. Videla converted for a 16-13 half-time lead. 

It did not take long until the scoring back locked-in at 16-16. de la Vega Mendía made it so 4 minutes into the second-half. Chile won a penalty following the restart only to turn down a shot at goal and kick for the corner. Diego Escobar threw the lineout and Chile rolled ahead with a maul. Clemente Saavedra was the try scorer. 

The Argentina XV responded by taking chances. A kick over the top with advantage saw them favored by the bounce of the ball. As Francisco Urroz went to gather it, the ball cruly hit the deck on an unfavorable angle. He slid over enabling a free score for Argentine center Juan Pablo Castro. The gift try had the Chileans fired up.

Chile won a turn-over penalty following the restart. Santiago Videla landed a penalty before lightening struck twice. A kick through from the Argentina XV bounced unfavorably for Urroz. The Argentina XV regathered it and went about attacking through phases. Chile held-on but the Argentina XV won a penalty and kicked for the corner. The Argentina XV came away with points and the lead. Replacement hooker Ramiro Gurovich scored from a lineout to maul five meter attack.

de la Vega Mendía missed the conversion. It meant that the Argentina XV’s lead was 28-26 with five minutes remaining. The came a controversial ending. Raimundo Martínez made a break down the right. de la Vega Mendía went for an intercept with the result being a knock-on. Comparative incidents are often yellow carded. Frank Murphy said just a knock-on and blew full-time. 

Chile now prepare to travel to France. Pablo Lemoine will confirm the there final names on his 33-man roster for the World Cup. Los Cóndores’ eagerly awaited debut at the World Cup will be against Japan in Toulouse on September 10.

SCORING

CHILE (26)
Try – R Fernández (40’); C Saavedra (47’)
Con – S Videla 2 (40’, 48’)
Pen – S Videla 4 (4’ 26’, 32’, 66’)

ARGENTINA XV (28)
Try – I Delguy (12’); JP Castro (61’); R Gurovich (74’)
Con – J de la Vega Mendía 2 (13’, 62’)
Pen – J de la Vega Mendía 3 (18’, 31’, 45’)

TEAMS

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

MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Frank Murphy (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Damian Schneider (Argentina); Cauã Ricardo (Brazil)