Canada come from behind to beat Chile in u20 series

Canada recovered from an 11-point deficit to defeat Chile 25-24 in their u20 match at Guelph University on Thursday evening. A conversion from wide out by Jamin Hodgkins after a Sol Jacques try gave the home side the lead and they held on for the victory.

The Junior Cóndores were dominant in the scrum early but Benjamin Sandoval’s long-range penalty attempt was wide of the posts. Canada fired back with a scrum drive of their own, and Hodgkins opened the scoring. Soon after the scores were leveled by a three-pointer from Damián Fliegel.

Juan Noriega was sent to the bin for a tip-tackle but it was the Chileans who would score the first try. A loose pass turned over possession in Canadian territory. Tomas Álvarado, only just into the game at scrumhalf, broke free from a ruck. His pass to Dante Marchesse was toed ahead by the flanker and he fell on the ball for a try.

Fliegel’s extras made it 10-3 to the visitors, but there was time enough for Canada to earn one more shot at goal before halftime. Hodgkins made no mistake and it was a four-point game at the intermission.

A try to Simón Donoso from a driving maul early in the second half, converted by Fliegel, saw Chile take a 17-6 lead. An response came in short order as a wide ball from Hodgkins put Matt Klimchuk in space on the 22-meter line, and the flanker barged through a tackle to touch down in the corner.

The two kickers each missed shots at goal before Canada took the lead at the hour mark. Hodkins drilled a raking kick into the corner for a 50-22. The lineout drive was stopped just short but Ethan Jurgeneit went low under the defense to score from a meter out.

Chile jumped back ahead after some hard work from their forward pack. It was their captain Franco Constantino who bashed in under the posts, with Fliegel tacking on two more points. They couldn’t finish the job, however, as Kobe Faust made ground on the left side and then Jacques wrestled his way over to set up the finale from Hodgkins.

The series concludes on Tuesday when Chile plays Zimbabwe and Canada faces Uruguay.

 

SCORING

CANADA 25
Tries – M. Klimchuk (49′), E. Jurgeneit (60′), S. Jacques (71′)
Cons – J. Hodgkins 2/3 (50′, 72′)
Pens – J. Hodgkins 2/3 (20′, 40′)

CHILE 24
Tries – D. Marchesse (37′), S. Donoso (44′), F. Constantino (67′)
Cons – D. Fliegel 3/3 (38′, 45′, 68′)
Pens – B. Sandoval 0/1, D. Fliegel 1/2 (25′)
YC – J. Noriega (31′)

 

TEAMS

CANADA u20
1 Mehdi Porchet, 2 David Scollon, 3 Payton Teneycke, 4 Logan Weidner, 5 Alastair Bruce, 6 Sol Jacques, 7 Ethan Fryer, 8 Relmu Wilson-Valdes, 9 Sam Reimer, 10 James Biss, 11 Alastair Marshall, 12 Talon McMullin, 13 Liam Bowman (capt.), 14 Kobe Faust, 15 Jamin Hodgkins

Replacements: 16 Michael Di Lella, 17 Joe McNulty, 18 Ethan Jurgeneit, 19 Lucas Scheck, 20 Adam Doyle, 21 Caden Wilson, 22 Matt Klimchuk, 23 Jack East

CHILE u20
1 Norman Aguayo, 2 Simón Donoso, 3 Marco López, 4 Andrés Kuzmanic, 5 Jaime Paredes, 6 Ignacio Soublette, 7 Dante Marchesse, 8 Franco Constantino (capt.), 9 Benjamín Sandoval, 10 Manuel Bustamante, 11 Federico Contreras, 12 Juan Noriega, 13 Álvaro Castro, 14 Pedro Jaramillo, 15 Damián Fliegel

Replacements: 16 Andrés Vial, 17 Joaquín Castro, 18 Ignacio González, 19 Bruno Saez, 20 Martín Pizarro, 21 Joaquín Borquez, 22 Tomás Álvarado, 23 Pastor Melo

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Amelia Luciano (USA)