Chile XV defeat Canada ‘A’ in penalty-ridden contest

Chile defeated Canada by a final score of 36-25 to claim the Americas Rugby Trophy in Mogi das Cruzes on Friday. It was a penalty-ridden contest throughout with an astonishing nine yellow cards dished out by Argentine referee Damián Schneider.

The match was not considered a full test and no caps were awarded, with the teams technically competing under the ‘next senior’ designation. Nevertheless both sides fielded lineups full of senior internationals in preparation for their upcoming matches on European soil.

Ignacio Silva was the first to be sent to the sin bin just three minutes in, with Ben LeSage opening the scoring moments later on a flat pass from Ross Braude. Cooper Coats converted to make it a full seven. A response came from Santiago Videla, who landed two penalty goals as Canadian captain Lucas Rumball saw yellow for repeat team infringements.

The Chileans took the lead when Alfonso Escobar crossed just short of the 20-minute mark. Coats landed a penalty goal before a scuffle saw second rows Conor Keys and Javier Eissmann dispatched to the sidelines. Videla’s third penalty on the stroke of halftime made it 16-10 to the South Americans.

Corey Thomas was next to feel the referee’s wrath, followed by a penalty goal from Matías Garafulic. Raimundo Martínez joined Thomas on the sidelines as Coats fired back for Canada. A try then came from burly prop Lucas Bordigoni with Videla’s extras giving Chile a 13-point lead.

Yellows to Sebastián Otero and Nicolás Garafulic left Chile with only 12 players on the field temporarily with Lindsey Stevens scoring for the Canadians. The Chileans would score when back to 13 men via Diego Warnken, before Josiah Morra grabbed a try for Canada. Videla’s fourth penalty goal came after Kyle Baillie’s yellow to close out the match.

A trip to Europe is the next order of business for Chile, who will play against Romania and Tonga in Bucharest before moving on to face Leinster in Dublin. Canada will finish their short trip with a match against the Brazil XV next Wednesday.

 

SCORING

CHILE 36
Tries – A. Escobar (19′), L. Bordigoni (56′), D. Warnken (67′)
Cons – S. Videla 3/3 (20′, 57′, 68′)
Pens – S. Videla 4/4 (8′, 13′, 40′, 77′), M. Garafulic 1/1 (48′)
YC – I. Silva (3′), J. Eissmann (32′), R. Martínez (53′), S. Otero (61′), N. Garafulic (62′)

CANADA 25
Tries – B. LeSage (4′), L. Stevens (63′), J. Morra (70′)
Cons – C. Coats 2/3 (5′, 64′)
Pens – C. Coats 2/2 (30′, 54′)
YC – L. Rumball (12′), C. Keys (32′), C. Thomas (47′), K. Baillie (77′)

 

TEAMS

CHILE XV
1 Javier Carrasco (17 Sebastián Otero 57′), 2 Diego Escobar (16 Augusto Böhme 47′), 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga (18 Lucas Bordigoni 51′), 4 Clemente Saavedra, 5 Javier Eissmann (19 Santiago Pedrero 51′), 6 Raimundo Martínez, 7 Ignacio Silva (20 Joaquín Milesi 47′), 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Lukas Carvallo (21 Marcelo Torrealba 49′), 10 Rodrigo Fernández (23 Diego Warnken 49′), 11 Nicolás Garafulic, 12 José Ignacio Larenas (capt.), 13 Matías Garafulic, 14 Cristóbal Game (22 Pablo Casas 24′), 15 Santiago Videla

CANADA ‘A’
1 Liam Murray (17 Emerson Prior 57′), 2 Andrew Quattrin (16 Lindsey Stevens 57′), 3 Tyler Rowland (18 Conor Young 57′), 4 Josh Larsen (19 Callum Botchar 64′), 5 Conor Keys, 6 Kyle Baillie, 7 Lucas Rumball (capt.), 8 Corey Thomas (20 Matt Klimchuk 72′), 9 Ross Braude, 10 Cooper Coats, 11 Josiah Morra, 12 Josh Thiel, 13 Ben LeSage, 14 David Richard, 15 Robbie Povey

Not used: 21 Gradyn Bowd, 22 Gabe Casey, 23 Alex Russell

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Damián Schneider (Argentina)
Assistants: Nehuén Jauri Rivero (Argentina) & Francisco González (Uruguay)