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Chile have won Gold at the Juegos Bolivarianos, defeating Paraguay 24-7 in the final in Santa Marta, Colombia. In doing so Los Cóndores have successfully defended their Bolivarian Games title, following on from winning in Chiclayo in 2013.
Chile won Gold on the back of a dominant campaign. Undefeated in the pool stage, Chile defeated Peru 40-0, Venezuela 38-0, Colombia 24-0 and Paraguay 29-7.
In the Semi Finals Los Cóndores 7’s faced Colombia for the second time. Chile ran-out comfortable winning, downing Los Tucanes 26-5. Scoring first half tries were Francisco Urroz, Ignacio Silva and Julio Blanc. Marcelo Torrealba added a conversion, giving Chile a 19-0 lead.
Sebastián Mejía got Colombia on the board to open the second half but Chile was already assured of advancing to the final. When Rodrigo Fernández scored it was made official. His try would be converted by Lucas Westcott.
Paraguay reached the final by defeating Venezuela 19-5. This set-up a Bronze Final between Colombia and Venezuela. The home side were unable to realize their mission of winning gold but did secure medals in defeating Venezuela 12-5.
In the final Los Yacares looked to find a way of upsetting Los Cóndores. It was made tough when, in the 4th minute, Paraguay gave away a penalty try. Yes determination led to Juan González scoring for Paraguay. It was followed with a miracle upset appearing plausible when Chile were forced to play with 6 as Rodrigo Fernández was yellow carded.
In the second half Chile ended the speculation that Paraguay would write history in winning Gold. Tries to Rodrigo Fernández and Lucas Westcott were converted by Torrealba to power Los Cóndores out to a 24-5 lead.
Chile’s title continues the tremendous success being achieved by the team in recent times. Earlier this month Chile made history by defeating New Zealand at the Silicon Valley 7’s in Northern California. More may be to come as Chile are to open 2018 by playing in Punta del Este and Viña del Mar.
