Chile shake up SA 4 Nations with upset win over Uruguay

Chile have shaken up the South American 4 Nations. The Chile XV produced a 22-21 upset win over tournament hosts, the Uruguay XV. The result takes both teams to a 1-1 record after two tournament matches.

As noted in the match preview, Chile has recent positive results against the Uruguayans. Chile were 22-20 winners over the Uruguay XV in 2018 and beaten 39-32 in 2019. There are differences of note between those matches and today’s outcome. None is more significant than that of professionalism. Selknam and High Performance Centers have lifted Chile notably. The RWC 2023 qualifiers may be unchartered waters for the Americas.

The Chile XV’s win today came on the back of a 17-16 half-time lead. Los Cóndores scored two tries to one in the first half. Both tries came after the Uruguayans had impressed early.

Federico Favaro continued his fine form to open the scoring. He slotted a 4th minute penalty and another in the 15th penalty. His best though was in between as he touched down for a try. He converted his own score to give the Uruguay XV a 13-0 lead after 15 minutes.

Despite the opening action, the Chile XV remained calm. Captain Martín Sigren went over to close the opening quarter. His try was converted by center Santiago Videla.

Uruguayan fly half Felipe Etcheverry responded for the hosts. He landed a drop-goal to score the final first half points for the Uruguay XV. The remaining 15 minutes of the half saw the Chile XV on top. Flanker Ignacio Silva touched down for the Chile XV. The try was converted by Videla and Francisco Urroz then put Chile ahead with a penalty.

The Uruguayans were the better team in the early minutes of the second half. Winger Baltazar Amaya score a simple try from a cross-kick. His 49th minute effort was unconverted by Favaro. The right winger also missed attempted penalties in the 49th and 89th minutes.

Chile also had goal-kicking concerns; rain and wind was not aiding the kickers. Th one way to ensure scoring was with tries. Chile’s third marked the final point of the match. Alfonso Escobar rounded-off an impressive performance from the flankers. More importantly, his 74th minute score gave the Chileans a 22-21 lead.

The Uruguay XV had several opportunities to regain the lead. One was Favaro’s long-range penalty. Another was the Uruguay XV’s last minute half-break. The Chile XV closed it down. Not for the first time in the match, the Chileans successfully stopped an Uruguayan maul to win the turn-over.

Both teams now have there rest days. The Chile XV will head into their match against the Brazil XV as favorites. The Uruguay XV will take-on top seeds, the Argentina XV in the final fixture.

SCORING

URUGUAY XV (21)
Try: Favaro (11′), Amaya (49′)
Conversion: Favaro (12′)
Penalty: Favaro 2 (4′, 15′)
Drop-Goal: Etcheverry (25′)

CHILE XV (22)
Try: Sigren (20′), Silva (27′), Escobar (59′)
Conversion: Videla 2 (21′, 28)
Penalty: Urroz (37′)

TEAMS

URUGUAY XV
1 Matías Benítez, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Diego Arbelo, 4 Felipe Aliaga, 5 Lorenzo Surraco, 6 Eric Dosantos, 7 Federico Di Bueno, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Guillermo Lijtenstein, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Baltazar Amaya, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Nicolás Freitas, 14 Federico Favaro, 15 Rodrigo Silva

Replacements: 16 Agustín Conserva, 17 Ezequiel Ramos, 18 Ignacio Peculo, 19 Leandro Segredo, 20 Santiago Civetta, 21 Ignacio Rodríguez, 22 José Iruleguy, 23 Agustín Della Corte, 24 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 25 Juanjuan Garese, 26 Mateo Perillo

CHILE XV
1 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 2 Augusto Bohme, 3 Esteban Inostroza, 4 Clemente Saavedra, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Ignacio Silva, 7 Martín Sigren (capt.), 8 Nicolás Garafulic, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Francisco Urroz, 11 Franco Velarde, 12 Santiago Videla, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Matías Garafulic, 15 Rodrigo Fernández

Replacements: 16 Tomás Dussaillant, 17 Javier Carrasco, 18 Salvador Lues, 19 Santiago Pedrero, 20 Thomas Orchard, 21 Alfonso Escobar, 22 Jan Hasenlechner, 23 Raimundo Martínez, 24 José Larenas, 25 Diego Warnken, 26 Julio Blanc

Referee: Nehuén Jauri Rivero (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Damián Schneider (Argentina), Cauá Ricardo (Brazil)