Canada defence found wanting in 44-14 loss to Chile in men's rugby test in Bucharest

Canada's Peter Nelson gets tackled by Scotland's Gus Warr during first half of men's rugby action in Ottawa on Saturday, July 6, 2024. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)

Bucharest -

Chile ran in seven tries en route to a 44-14 win over Canada in a men's international rugby test match Saturday.

The Canadian men are ranked 22nd in the world, compared to No. 21 for Chile. Canada faces No. 20 Romania next Saturday at the same venue, the Stadionul Arcul de Triumf.

It was the first meeting between Canada and Chile since October 2021 when the South Americans ended the Canadians' qualification bid for the 2023 World Cup with a 54-46 aggregate victory in their two-legged series.

Canada coach Kingsley Jones is preparing his young side for World Cup qualifying, which starts next year via the Pacific Nations Cup.

Captain Lucas Rumball scored Canada's lone try Saturday, outmuscling a would-be tackler down the left flank in the 77th minute after taking a pass from Cooper Coats. Canada's other points came from three Peter Nelson penalty kicks.

The Garafulic brothers combined for three Chile tries, two to Nicolas and one to younger brother Matias. Cristobal Game, Raimundo Martinez, Benjamin Videla and Domingo Saavedra also had tries for Chile which led 19-9 at the half. Santiago Videla, Benjamin's older brother, kicked three conversions and one penalty.

Chile's matchday lineup also included brothers Alfonso and Diego Escobar and Clemente and Domingo Saavedra.

Canada had its only family affair with Noah and Mason Flesch both starting. Noah, a centre, earned his first cap and Mason, a lock forward, his 12th.

Canada lost hooker Andrew Quattrin to the sin bin in the 68th minute for a dangerous tackle.

"We knew it would be physical," said Jones. "There were a number of head collisions, that shook us a little bit, rattled us. But it’s how we react to that, and how we respond to that, and we’ve got to be better. Ultimately test match rugby is about contact areas and collisions, and Chile came out on top in that area.

“We gifted four tries from open play, that’s the disappointing part. We worked very, very hard, but we never had field position. It shows that to be able to get field position, to be able to win collisions, get game line, is really important … Looking at positives, the guys that came on (from the bench), they did a good job, they put their hand up.”

Chile wasted little time getting started, with Game touching down in the corner in the first minute after Canada mishandled the opening kickoff.

A Nelson penalty reduced the Chilean lead to 5-3 in the fifth minute and the fly half put Canada ahead 6-5 in the 10th minute with another penalty.

Canada's defence was ripped apart in the 12th minute, with Martinez slicing through defenders for a converted try and 12-6 lead. The Canadian defenders were found wanting again in the 26th minute on a converted try by Matias Garafulic that upped the lead to 19-6.

Nelson converted a penalty kick on the stroke of halftime.

Chile added second half-tries by Benjamin Videla, Saavedra and a pair from Nicolas Garafulic. Canada, meanwhile, was largely unable to dent the Chilean defence.

Jones's 32-man tour roster includes 25 players who took part in the Pacific Nations Cup, which saw Canada lose to No. 14 Japan (55-28), the 19th-ranked United States (28-15) and No. 16 Tonga (30-17) in August and September.

The Canadian men split their two earlier test matches in July in Ottawa, beating Romania 35-22 and losing 73-12 to No. 7 Scotland.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024