Match report
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Here are the post-game thoughts of the man of the match, Nicolás Sánchez (via a translator).
What a performance 👏
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) September 30, 2023
Nicolas Sanchez is the @Mastercard #POTM#RWC2023 | #ARGvCHI | #Priceless | @lospumas pic.twitter.com/vWvmhSkPi1
So the question now is: will Argentina stick with Sánchez against Japan, or bring back their first-choice fly-half, Santiago Carreras? Michael Cheika isn’t giving anything away. “Japan are a great team, they were quarter-finalists last time and we weren’t. We’ll take a couple of days off, and get ready for a great game.”
On today’s display, he says: “The intensity was good, there were times we got a bit carried away. We respected the opposition a lot, and got a lot of things done that we were trying to improve. There were moments where we were under pressure, we forced errors.”
Full time! Argentina 59-5 Chile
Carreras adds the conversion, and that’s that. Job very much done for Argentina, who set up a shootout with Japan for a quarter-final place. Chile got the try their attacking efforts deserved, and can go home with their heads held high.
TRY! Argentina 57-5 Chile (Carreras 79')
There’s still time for Argentina to pile on the hurt, with Bogado offloading smartly to Carreras, who jogs off into the distance to add an eighth try.
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78 mins: Alfonso Escobar is on for Chile, replacing José Ignacio Larenas for the final two minutes of his team’s campaign.
TRY! Argentina 52-5 Chile (Ruiz 77')
The Pumas pass the 50-point mark as Chile hold off the first wave, but allow the replacement prop Ignacio Ruiz to duck in under the post. Carreras gets some kicking practice in with the conversion.
75 mins: Argentina go in search of a seventh try, and will get a chance from the lineout after Chile are caught offside for roughly the 500th time. Sánchez is off, replaced by Santiago Carreras, and receives a deserved ovation.
TRY! Argentina 45-5 Chile (Dussaillant 73')
They’ve done it! It’s a 15-man maul, every red shirt piling in to force the ball over the line. It’s awarded to Tomas Dussaillant, and cheered by everyone in the ground. Videla misses the conversion, but nobody really cares.
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70 mins: Chile have a penalty advantage some 20m out, and Garafulic has a cheeky go at a drop goal which drifts wide. They come back and Fernandez goes for the corner, desperate for a try to cheer their travelling fans.
TRY! Argentina 45-0 Chile (González 68')
It’s a second try for Juan Martín González, picked out on the right by Isa after an offload from Sánchez, who adds a tricky conversion to continue a near-flawless display.
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65 mins: Joaquin Oviedo replaces Pagadizabal in the Argentina pack. For Chile, Francisco Urroz replaces the lively Ayarza, and Esteban Inostroza is on in the front row. His lid is quite something – bald on top, long at the back. Outstanding.
TRY! Argentina 38-0 Chile (Isgro 64')
Rodrigo Isgro joins the party, picking up Sanchez’s pass and slaloming beyond two challenges to squeeze in under the posts. Sanchez adds the conversion.
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62 mins: Juan Imhoff needs treatment for a heavy collision with Ayarza during that move, and will need to be assessed. Chile still have six replacements on their bench.
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61 mins: Oof! Chile keep charging forward and finally find a gap as Clemente Saavedra gets round a tackle. He doesn’t have any support, though, and a hefty challenge knocks the ball from his grasp.
59 mins: Argentina bob and weave towards the line, De La Fuente held up by Ayarza – but a Chile player steps offside, and Argentina have a scrum five metres out. A fifth try feels inevitable – but no! Chile are stronger in the scrum, and get a penalty of their own.
56 mins: That’s the end of Bohme’s afternoon, replaced by Tomas Dussaillant; for Argentina, the fired-up Creevy and Marcos Kremer are replaced by Ignacio Ruiz and Matias Alemanno.
55 mins: Chile concede a penalty for collapsing the maul, and Sanchez boots into touch. The crowd have certainly livened up since Chile’s try and the subsequent decision to disallow it.
52 mins: No try! Ah, this is a real shame. From the lineout, Augusto Bohme trades passes with Clemente Saavedra and clatters his way over the line to roars from the crowd. Chile have a try! But wait – the TMO, Ben Whitehouse, says Saavedra’s pass was forward. I’m not sure anyone else noticed.
50 mins: Chile get a penalty and there’s a prolonged bit of afters, with Agustin Creevy running across to get involved. The referee warns both captains that he’ll sit players down if that continues.
49 mins: A fair few changes after that bonus-point try: for Argentina, Lautaro Bazan Velez replaces Tomas Cubelli and Francisco Gömez Kodela is on for Eduardo Bello in the front row. Salvador Lues replaces Javier Carrasco for Chile.
48 mins: Sánchez’s conversion means that Argentina have scored more points here than in total against England and Samoa. It’s a painful blow for Chile, who threw everything at their opponents only to end up further behind.
TRY! Argentina 31-0 Chile (Bogado 46')
Isgro juggles the ball on the right flank and Argentina sweep downfield before Sánchez moves left and offloads to Cubelli, who finds Bogado. The full-back skips around one tackle and has the space to take the scenic route around another, bending his run to secure his side’s fourth try.
Updated
44 mins: Argentina retain the ball from their lineout, but a colossal tackle by Domingo Saavedra dislodges the ball. Argentina scramble back to collect, inside their own half …
42 mins: Ayarza collects a downfield kick and sets off at speed before offloading to Garafulic, who is crowded out. Chile push on, into the opposing 22, but as they work the ball across the field, Argentina hold firm and draw the penalty, to audible anguish from the crowd.
Second half
We’re back under way in Nantes, with Rodrigo Isgro back off the sin-bin bench for Argentina.
“I remember watching France v Argentina in 2007 in a rugby club just outside Paris,” writes Jeremy Boyce. “Argentina were the bright new shiny object and we all loved them for it. Seems to me that since they were accepted into the Championship, they have adopted ‘if-you-can’t-beat-them-join-them’ tactics. Rugby is a better game when teams like Chile and Portugal are playing.”
Some half-time reading from Ugo Monye:
Half time! Argentina 24-0 Chile
It’s been an efficient, dominant display from Argentina, crashing in three tries and not giving their spirited opponents an inch. All that’s left to wrap up is a bonus point, and then who knows – perhaps we can have a bit more fun. Back soon.
39 mins: Some nice hands from the Chilean backs, particularly Ayarza, but on two occasions, Videla is absolutely steamrollered to stop the attack. There’s a Truman Show-esque sky-blue wall on front of Chile, and they can’t make a dent in it.
38 mins: It’s a low-tempo end to this first half, with Chile looking exhausted and Argentina happy to regroup for the second half.
35 mins: No try! Facundo Isa, the Argentina No 8, is able to barrel forward largely unopposed, but three red shirts gather to stop him scoring. It’s checked by the TMO, and replays show that he did get the ball down, but not before being dragged into touch.
33 mins: Chile win the lineout and try to mount an attack – but their commitment to running the ball, while admirable, isn’t getting them much joy against Argentina’s well-spread defence. At the breakdown, the ball is turned over …
31 mins: No upgrade for Isgro’s yellow card – “not a high degree of danger” – while on the field, Chile hold up superbly and Argentina are eventually penalised.
28 mins: The referee warns Tomas Cubelli over wasting time at the put-in, before Sanchez looks to release Imhoff down the right. The winger cuts inside and out before being held up, but Chile concede another penalty in the process …
Yellow card for Argentina (Isgro)
Isgro is sent to the sin-bin for a high arm as he sought to bring Fernández down; it’ll also be reviewed, though it looks like a yellow card to me. Chile with a man advantage, and a chance to stop the one-way traffic.
25 mins: We’re having a TMO review now, after a high tackle from Argentina’s Rodrigo Isgro on Chile’s Rodrigo Fernández.
TRY! Argentina 24-0 Chile (Creevy 23')
The beatdown continues. Sánchez kicks to the corner, Argentina win the lineout, Creevy gets on the ball, sneaks around the maul, dots down, taps the badge, Sánchez converts. Like clockwork.
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21 mins: Chile’s defence holds up under the posts and Argentina knock on – but prop Javier Carrasco is offside.
19 mins: A second dropped catch from Ayarza, dazzled by the sun, puts Chile back in trouble – but they win a penalty from the resulting scrum. Only a brief reprieve, though, as a missed lineout ball allows Argentina to pour forward again …
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TRY! Argentina 17-0 Chile (González 17')
The chance is taken with ruthless efficiency; Pagadizabal climbs highest at the lineout then directs traffic, the spinning maul proving unstoppable as Juan Martín González carries it forward. Sánchez adds the extras.
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15 mins: “You must roll away,” Paul Williams tells Chile’s Javier Eissmann after another defensive penalty. Sánchez kicks for the corner …
Argentina 10-0 Chile (Sánchez pen): Michael Cheika’s side look dialled in, ready to punish any mistakes. They pounce on a poor kick-off to get back into Chile territory, and when the penalty arrives, Sánchez kicks the three points to extend their lead.
Updated
11 mins: An early change for Argentina, with centre Lucio Cinti unable to continue; he’s replaced by Juan Cruz Mallia.
1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ caps and a try to top it off
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) September 30, 2023
Nicolas Sanchez is on fire#RWC2023 | #ARGvCHI | @lospumas pic.twitter.com/xr03VjvlpO
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TRY! Argentina 7-0 Chile (Sánchez 9')
Nicolás Sánchez, earning his 100th cap today, gives Argentina the lead with a lovely bit of trickery, sidestepping one tackle and then catching out his fellow fly-half Fernández with a dummy pass, opening a space to slide over in the corner. He adds the conversion.
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8 mins: An early drinks break as a couple of players get treatment after a bruising opening passage of play.
6 mins: The Argentina pack work their way towards the line, but a Chilean boot smartly clears a loose ball, and the underdogs are able to turn it over and clear away.
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2 mins: Juan Imhoff holds on to the ball under pressure, and Chile get an early penalty. They’re going for it, from on the halfway line! Santiago Videla lines it up – but it doesn’t have the distance.
Updated
Here we go!
Chile kick off under blue skies in Nantes, where it’s 24 degrees. Paul Williams is the referee.
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The two anthems are absolutely bellowed out by players and fans alike. It sounds like Argentina supporters are outnumbering their neighbours, but it’s going to be a raucous atmosphere either way.
Tom Farrell has a bold suggestion: “How about five groups of four? The first three for the top 12 qualifiers by world ranking, each group sending two teams to the quarter-finals. The other two groups are for teams ranked 13-20, but only the winners go through. It sounds crazy, but it would work.”
Chile are yet to beat Argentina in 39 Test matches, although they have beaten sides from across the border in uncapped games. This is the first World Cup match between two South American sides, and a rare occasion when two bordering nations have met in a World Cup pool.
Pre-game thoughts from both head coaches …
Argentina’s Michael Cheika: “You’ve got to earn everything, especially in the World Cup. That’s been our mentality since Game 1; some players have a good opportunity today. There will be a lot of emotion, it’s a great derby occasion.”
The Chile coach, Pablo Lemoine: “This is a big day for South American rugby, but especially for us; Chile fans used to follow Argentina at World Cups, now we’re playing them!”
An interesting debate in the pre-game chat on ITV about potentially expanding the World Cup to 24 teams. Maggie Alphonsi believes it would give smaller teams more opportunities, but Rory Best is concerned that we will see more lopsided scores unless more is done between tournaments to help the lower-tier nations develop.
It’s a tough balance: in an ideal world, I would like to see more games between the leading nations at a World Cup, but that’s hard to do without increasing the workload on players, or shutting developing sides out (as we’ve seen in cricket, for instance). How would you change the format? Drop me a line.
Some news from the France camp, where Antoine Dupont has been cleared to return to action following surgery on his facial fracture.
“Antoine has been given the go-ahead to resume physical activity taking it step by step,” read a statement from the French federation.
“This activity will take place under the supervision of the French national team’s medical staff.”
Les Bleus play Italy in their final Pool A match on Friday, but France’s health manager Bruno Boussagol has said he is “convinced” Dupont, the captain and scrum-half, would not be fit for the game.
Bordeaux’s Maxime Lucu is expected to deputise in Lyon, but Dupont is expected to be fit for the quarter-finals. He suffered the injury in a head-on-head challenge from Namibia’s Johan Deysel, who was sent off and subsequently banned for five matches.
The teams
Argentina: Bogado, Isgro, Cinti, De la Fuente (c), Imhoff, Sánchez, Cubelli; Sclavi, Creevy, Bello; Pagadizabal, Rubiolo; González, Kremer, Isa.
Replacements: Ruíz, Vivas, Gómez Kodela, Alemanno, Oviedo, Bazan Velez, Carreras, Mallia.
Chile: Ayarza, Videla, D Saavedra, Garafulic, Larenas, Fernández, Torrealba; Carrasco, Bohme, Dittus, Pedrero, Eissmann, Sigren (c), C Saavedra, Martínez.
Replacements: Dussaillant, Lues, Inostroza, Sarmiento, Escobar, Silva, Herreros, Urroz.
Preamble
Few teams experienced an uplift in their World Cup expectations like Argentina, who began as many experts’ picks to win Pool D and go deep in the draw, after a number of statement warm-up wins and England’s apparent disintegration.
That picture changed with a few swishes of George Ford’s boot and left Argentina in a fight to even reach the quarter-finals. After stuttering against Samoa, they take on neighbours Chile in Nantes today. Nothing less than a win will do, and preferably with a bonus point.
Despite their disappointing displays so far, Michael Cheika’s have a clear road map of increasing difficulty towards the final. Beat Chile, set up an eliminator against Japan. Win that, and it’s probably Wales in the quarters – and over the horizon, Ireland or the All Blacks.
Cheika, of course, will not tolerate such forward planning from his players. Chile are debutants here and lack the defensive strength to match their attacking swagger, but there will be plenty of passion on and off the pitch. Argentina are big favourites, but they know that guarantees nothing. There’s a job to be done.
