Argentina XV trample Chile in Talcahuano sun

The Argentina XV made it tough on themselves at times but still had no trouble trampling hosts Chile by a score of 45-10 at the Estadio CAP in Talcahuano on Saturday. Perfect sunny conditions with only a slight ocean breeze seemed to be a recipe for running rugby, but conservative tactics employed by both sides muddied the game for large stretches of the first half.

It was the home side who surprised in the opening minutes. Sloppy play from Argentina conceded possession in their own end and after a number of phases Chile won a penalty. Jorge Castillo had no trouble finding the uprights and Los Cóndores had an unlikely lead.

As the adrenaline wore off from the opening, the gaps started to open in the Chilean defense and it was the Juan Cappiello who capitalised for Argentina. Lautaro Bazán was nabbed but his offload off the deck found his captain in close support to stroll over for an easy try.

Both sides bizarrely opted to kick despite the sunny conditions, and neither did so effective. A chance to reassess tactics came at an injury break for Gonzalo Martínez. The big Chilean prop caught a stray boot to the head and was stretchered off, though his thumbs up indicated that it was precautionary.

When Argentina finally changed their tune Chile began to concede penalties at the breakdown, and Juan Cruz González took the opportunity to take three points from close range in front of the sticks. The referee’s patience wore thin and another saw Claudio Zamorano set to the bin.

Despite the man advantage Argentina persisted at taking the Chileans on up front, and to their credit Los Cóndores remained resilient. After phase upon phase Bazán and González finally moved the ball wide and Fernando Luna was in to the corner for a second try on the stroke of half-time, with the sideline conversion making it a two-score game.

The second half was largely one-way traffic. Nicolás Solveyra scored within a few minutes of the restart with the prop on the end of some loose play while lurking on the wing. Bautista Delguy was next, the replacement fullback finishing off a clean break by German Schulz down the left sideline. Soon after it was the longest of run-ins from Bruno Devoto, who took an inside ball from Cappiello to race away untouched from 50 metres. All three were converted.

Chile had a moment to cheer when Rodrigo Fernández scored a marvelous try for Los Cóndores. From a midfield scrum the ball went through several pairs of hands to put Fernández in space, and the fullback scorched around Luna before fooling Delguy with a brilliant in-and-out. Francisco González Moller hit the sideline conversion to meet the crowd’s approval.

Francisco Gorrissen landed awkwardly on the restart and was forced to limp off, leaving Argentina a man down for the final 10 minutes having used up all their substitutes. The advantage wouldn’t last long as a cynical penalty earned Zamorano his second yellow card of the game, and with it a red card from referee Ricardo Sant’Anna. Devoto reached out to score his second try from close range in the middle of the carnage to end the scoring for the day.

Argentina now move on to host Brazil in an historic fixtures at the southern city of Ushuaia next weekend. Chile will look to regroup before their match against the US Eagles in Santiago.

 

SCORING

CHILE 10
Tries – R. Fernández (68’)
Cons – F. González Moller (69’)
Pens – J. Castillo (7’)
Yellow cards – C. Zamorano (32’)
Red cards – C. Zamorano (72’)

ARGENTINA XV 45
Tries – J. Cappiello (15’), F. Luna (40’), N. Solveyra (46’), B. Delguy (52’), B. Devoto 2 (61’, 77’)
Cons – J. González 3 (16’, 40’, 47’), F. Luna 3 (53’, 62’, 78’)
Pens – J. González (24’)

 

TEAMS

CHILE
1 Claudio Zamorano (17 Sebastián Valech 5’-6’, 62’-70’), 2 Manuel Gurruchaga (16 Martín Mendoza 55’), 3 Gonzalo Martínez (18 José Tomás Munita 19’), 4 Mario Mayol (19 Manuel Dagnino 59’), 5 Nelson Calderón, 6 Cristóbal Niedmann (20 Eduardo Orpis 25’-29’, 70’), 7 Anton Petrowitsch, 8 Benjamín Soto, 9 Juan Pablo Larenas (17 Sebastián Valech 74’), 10 Jorge Castillo (22 Francisco González Moller 48’), 11 Martín Verschae, 12 Ricardo Sifri (23 Mauricio Urrutia 54’), 13 José Ignacio Larenas (capt.) (21 Sergio Bascuñan 62’), 14 Martín Fernández (17 Sebastián Valech 34’-42’), 15 Rodrigo Fernández

ARGENTINA XV
1 Nicolás Solveyra (17 Francisco Ferronato 55’), 2 Axel Zapata (16 Marcelo Brandi 62’), 3 Eduardo Bello (18 Alejo Brem 55’), 4 Franco Molina (19 Pedro Ortega 48’), 5 Ignacio Larrague, 6 Francisco Gorrissen, 7 Santiago Montagner, 8 Rodrigo Bruni (20 Lautaro Bavaro 58’), 9 Lautaro Bazán (21 Sebastián Cancelliere 64’), 10 Juan Cruz González (22 Tomás Granella 48’), 11 Germán Schulz, 12 Bruno Devoto, 13 Juan Cappiello (capt.), 14 Santiago Álvarez (23 Bautista Delguy 48’), 15 Fernando Luna

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Ricardo Sant’Anna (CBRu)
Assistants: Francisco Saavedra (FERUCHI) & Luis Díaz (FERUCHI)

 

Attendance: 5,000