Chile Put On Competitive Performance against Scotland A

In a much better performance than a week ago, Chile put on a competitive showing against Scotland A in Edinburgh. Freezing conditions, including show raked to the sidelines, awaited the players at Hive Stadium. They fought through it to play out an interesting 80 minutes of rugby. Scotland A were 19-17 winners.

The match was the second between Chile and Scotland A and the third between Chile and Scotland overall. The 2+ winning making was easily the lowest by the Scots. Scotland won 52-11 in Santiago del Chile in July and Scotland A were 45-5 winners, also in the Chilean capital, in 2022.

Scotland A scored early. Arron Reed, formerly of England u18 and u20, scored in the right corner. The try was unconverted but Scotland A were 5-0 up in the 2nd minute of play.

Chile attacked and earned meters the hard way. A penalty came on 12 minutes with Santiago Videla’s strike falling short to the right of the posts. Trench-warfare followed with neither team able to get the upper hand over the others.

Los Cóndores were eventually able to put pressure on Scotland A. A wayward pass was snatched with Chilean fullback Luca Strabucchi running 60 meters to score. Videla converted for a 7-5 lead on the half hour mark.

Disaster followed for Chile with Selknam captain being helped off the field injured. Stafford McDowal was yellow carded for the rucking which resulted in Clemente Saavedra’s injury.

Santiago Videla extended Chile’s lead on 46 minutes. The penalty made it 10-5. The difference did not last as Scotland A hit-back with former England Counties u18’s player Tom Dobb entering the try zone on 56 minutes. Ross Thompson converted to give Scotland A a 12-10 lead.

Scotland A showed themselves to have a powerful maul. It ultimately won them the match as a 71st minute advance was rewarded with a penalty try and Raimundo Martínez was yellow carded. Scotland A led 19-10 with nine minutes remaining.

Chile needed to score twice and attempted to do so. Los Cóndores did find their way over but via an interception. Replacement Nicolás Garafulic ran over in the final minute and his brother, Matías Garafulic, converted. It ended play at a reputable 19-17.

The final whistle brought to a close Los Cóndores’ three match tour of Europe. It started well with a record win over Canada in Romania but crashed to a low with defeat against the Netherlands in Amsterdam. The 2 point loss to Scotland A is a positive conclusion for the South Americans.

 

SCORING

SCOTLAND (19)
Try – A Reed (2′); T Dodd (55′); Penalty Try (71′)
Con – R Thompson (56′); No Kick (71′)
YC – S McDowall (33′)

CHILE (17)
Try – L Strabucchi (29′); N Garafulic (80′)
Con – S Videla (30′); M Garafulic (80′)
Pen – S Videla (46′)
YC – R Martínez (71′)

 

LINEUPS

SCOTLAND
1 Jamie Bhatti, 2 Gregor Hiddleston, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 4 Marshall Sykes, 5 Ewan Johnson, 6 Tom Dodd (vice-capt.), 7 Freddy Douglas, 8 Ben Muncaster, 9 Jamie Dobie (vice-captain.), 10 Ross Thompson, 11 Ross McCann, 12 Stafford McDowall (capt.), 13 Mosese Tuipulotu, 14 Matt Currie, 15 Arron Reed

Replacements: 16. Harri Morris, 17 Mikey Jones, 18 Fin Richardson, 19 Jare Oguntibeju, 20 Liam McConnell, 21 Ben Afshar, 22 Ben Healy, 23 Jack Brown

CHILE
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Bruno Sáez, 6 Martín Sigren (capt.), 7 Clemente Saavedra, 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Benjamín Videla, 10 Juan Cruz Reyes, 11 Matías Garafulic, 12 Santiago Videla, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Cristóbal Game, 15 Luca Strabucchi

Replacements: 16 Augusto Böhme, 17 Norman Aguayo, 18 Matías Dittus, 19 Raimundo Martínez, 20 Ernesto Tchimino, 21 Marcelo Torrealaba, 22 Rodrigo Fernández, 23 Nicolás Garafulic

 

MATCH VIDEO

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Federico Vedovelli (Italy); Franco Rosella (Italy)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)