20-25: Own errors condemn Spain against Chile

The constant indiscipline, the Chilean’s success Garafulic and the errors in the game at the hands of the locals gave Chili a clear victory (20-25) over Spain on the fifth day of the Nations Cupin a match played in Leganés (Madrid).

As if all that were not enough, The Lions – as the Spaniards are known – crashed again and again into the tough visiting defense, unable to overcome it.

Last Saturday, the Spanish coach, the Argentine Pablo Bouza, complained about the blows and punishments of his men in the victory against Uruguay. Today, far from improving in that aspect, they got worse. The rival defender, the infallible Garafulic, passed between the sticks up to six.

The Spanish did the complete opposite of what they were supposed to do at the beginning of the match. Hollie Davidson, the first woman to referee an international match for Spain, called one penalty blow after another and also sent off Nieto for 10 minutes.

Bouza’s men were wrong in the game at hand, and a worrying lack of ideas spread on the Butarque pitch,

Leganés had a first half hour to forget, in the case of the Spaniards, and to the solace of the thousands of Chileans present in Butarque. Settled with three penalty shots passed by Garafulic, plus a try by Bustamante that put a resounding 0-16 on the scoreboard.

The Lions reacted, the new hinge formed by Bay and Richardis began to work and the try of their captain Álvaro García did not take long to fall to go to halftime with a different sensation: 7-16.

Bouza’s men seemed to improve in the second half. It was a mirage, because Garafulic soon responded to Richardis’ blow (10-19 in the 48th minute). The second Spanish try came through Merkler to give hope to Los Leones with a 17-19 lead in the 53rd minute.

However, a high tackle by the Chilean Tchiminio and a tangana with Bay put both on the bench for 10 minutes and cut off the local reaction after Davidson took several minutes to see the TMO and decide. Meanwhile, Chile followed their team and practically sentenced it with another blow from their defender in the 64th minute, with a score of 17-25.

Rcihardis closed the gap near the end by converting another blow, but it was already too late.

Technical sheet

20 – Spain: Pirlet, Álvaro García, Merkler, Piñeiro, Suárez, Vélez, Fouldd, Nieto; Bay, Richardis; Carmona, Yago Fernández, Mateu, Cian and Bell. Boronat, Maravat, Zabala, Santamaría, Laforga, Ariceta and Diego González also played

25 – Chile: Lastra, Escobar, Gurruchaga, Pedrero, Eissmann, Tchimino, Raimundo Martínez, Alfonso Escobar; Benjamín Videla, Rodrigo Fernández; Saab, Iñaki Ayarza, Santiago Videla, Bustamante and Garafulic. Domingo Saavedra, Torrealba, Dittus, Saez and Clemente Saavedra also played.

Marker: 0-3, min.6: Garafulic hit. 0-6, min.9: Garafulic hit. 0-9, min.19: Garafulic hit. 0-16, min.23: Bustamante try, which Garafulic passes. 7-16, min.35: García try, which Richardis passes. 10-16, min.42: Richardis hit. 10-19, min,48: Garolfulic hit. 17-19, min.53: Merkler try, which Richardis passes. 17-22, min.56: Garafulic hit. 17-25, min.64. Garafulic hit. 20-25, min.79: Richardis hit.

Referee: Hollie Davidson, from Scotland. The first woman to referee an international match in Spain. He sent off Nieto for 10 minutes in the 18th minute and Bay and Tchiminio in the 64th minute.

Incidents: Match on the fifth day of the Nations Cup, played at the On Time Stadium in Butarque, in Leganés (Madrid).