Chile soar to historic win over Canada

Chile produced the biggest win of their history on Saturday as they defeated Canada 33-24 at Estadio Elías Figueroa. The result sees the Cóndores advancing to the Americas 2 Qualifer series for the first time with an aggregate score of 54-46. Meanwhile for the first time in Rugby World Cup history there will be no Canadian presence.

An early attacking opportunity to the Cóndores was repelled by a Tyler Ardron penalty, and the pressure instead yielded a penalty opportunity for Peter Nelson. It was a routine kick for Peter Nelson to give the visitors the first score of the game.

The momentum swung rapidly and drastically towards the home side. Penalties at the breakdown gave away territory and then six points from the boot of Santiago Videla, who had no troubles slotting his two penalty attempts.

Things would get worse for Canada. Another breakdown penalty gave away an attacking lineout and Alfonso Escobar was only just driven into touch on the short side. Still under pressure, Ross Braude’s box kick was taken cleanly by Rodrigo Fernandez and the Cóndores flyhalf sliced clean through the middle to score a superb individual effort. Videla tacked on the extra two.

An immediate chance to respond went to Canada after Javier Eissmann gave away a penalty at a ruck. The Canadian forwards got the drive on but failed to clear the ball when warned and instead handed possession back to Chile. A scrum penalty saw the ball cleared to safety.

Fernández found another gap and broke through the line as alarm bells rang loudly in Canadian ears. Matías Dittus came inches short but a turnover allowed Canada to clear to touch. It was only a temporary reprieve as a penalty at the lineout gave Videla another three points to make it 16-3 at halftime.

Canada came out of the break with a burst of energy. The pressure yielded repeat penalties which resulted in a yellow card to Augusto Böhme. A shot at goal was turned down and the lineout was instead chosen, and it paid off with a try for Eric Howard on the back of a driving maul. Nelson’s kick made it a six-point game.

Restarts plagued Canada throughout and immediately gave a scoring opportunity back to Chile. An offside penalty put the Canadians back on their own goal line but instead of the lineout, Clemente Saavedra tapped and crashed ahead, with Dittus there for the follow-up to barge over for the try with Videla making it a full seven.

More Canadian penalties led to a yellow card to Djustice Sears-Duru for offside, and Videla took another three points for the Cóndores. Canada regained possession but could not break through the Chilean defense, but penalties from the home side allowed for an attacking lineout. The drive was successful with Andrew Quattrin getting the credit and Nelson converting.

Another mistake at the restart handed the ball straight back to Chile. Fernandez slipped out of two tackles and then sprinted for the corner. He was caught just short but Videla was there in support to take the inside pass over for a try. The fullback’s unerring boot was on song from a wide angle as Canadian shoulders dropped.

The Condores would play the final minutes of the match down a man after Salvador Lues was binned for more team infringements but there was no time left for a Canadian comeback. Kainoa Lloyd’s try in the last minute of play was consolation only, with the final whistle sounding after Robbie Povey’s conversion.

Celebrations will continue long into the night in Valparaíso before the Chileans turn their focus to the Americas Pacific Challenge later this month and a tour to Russia in November. The long Canadian rebuild will begin in Europe next month with tests against Belgium and Portugal.

 

SCORING

CHILE 33
Tries – R. Fernández (24′), M. Dittus (50′), S. Videla (69′)
Cons – S. Videla 3/3 (25′, 51′, 70′)
Pens – S. Videla 4/4 (8′, 17′, 34′, 60′)
Yellow cards – A. Böhme (47′), S. Lues (74′)

CANADA 24
Tries – E. Howard (46′), A. Quattrin (66′), K. Lloyd (79′)
Cons – P. Nelson 2/2 (47′, 67′), R. Povey 1/1 (80′)
Pens – P. Nelson 1/1 (5′)
Yellow cards – D. Sears-Duru (59′)

 

TEAMS

CHILE
1 Javier Carrasco (17 Vittorio Lastra 47′), 2 Augusto Böhme (16 Tomás Dussaillant 66′), 3 Matías Dittus (18 Salvador Lues 68′), 4 Clemente Saavedra, 5 Javier Eissmann (19 Augusto Sarmiento 66′), 6 Martín Sigren (capt.), 7 Raimundo Martínez, 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Marcelo Torrealba (23 Nicolás Herreros 66′), 10 Rodrigo Fernández, 11 Franco Velarde, 12 Matías Garafulic, 13 Domingo Saavedra (22 José Ignacio Larenas 75′), 14 Nicolás Garafulic (16 Tomás Dussaillant 55′-57′), 15 Santiago Videla

Not used: 20 Thomas Orchard, 21 Iñaki Ayarza

CANADA
1 Djustice Sears-Duru (17 Cole Keith 69′), 2 Eric Howard (16 Andrew Quattrin 58′), 3 Tyler Rowland (18 Matt Tierney 58′), 4 Corey Thomas, 5 Kyle Baillie, 6 Tyler Ardron, 7 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 8 Siaki Vikilani (17 Cole Keith 61′-69′) (19 Conor Keys 70′), 9 Ross Braude (22 Jason Higgins 70′), 10 Peter Nelson (21 Robbie Povey 70′), 11 Kainoa Lloyd, 12 Spencer Jones, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 Brock Webster, 15 Patrick Parfrey

Not used: 20 Michael Smith, 23 Quinn Ngawati

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Nehuén Jauri Rivero (Argentina)
Assistants: Francisco González (Uruguay) & Gonzalo de Achaval (Argentina)
TMO: Gabriel Pinter (Argentina)