LEINSTER BAGGED SIX tries at Energia Park this afternoon to cruise towards a convincing 37-point triumph over Chile in a Bank of Ireland friendly.
Playing with a mixture of fringe players and All-Ireland League stars in the absence of their vast Ireland contingent, the eastern province recorded their first win over international opposition since defeating Canada 38-35 in a pre-season encounter at Ontario back in August 2019.
Much to the delight of their small band of passionate supporters, Chile (who will be competing at the World Cup finals for the first time next year) broke the deadlock through a seventh-minute penalty from full-back Santiago Videla.
Leinster’s response was immediate, however, as Lee Barron got his hands on the ball at the back of a line-out maul and dotted down in clinical fashion. The 21-year-old hooker doubled his tally off another set-piece move in the 15th-minute, before scrum-half Cormac Foley crossed the whitewash after racing through the Chilean defence off a ‘tap and go’.
Charlie Tector also added a brace of conversions to ensure the hosts were 16 points in front on the first-quarter mark. Leinster subsequently withstood some attacking pressure from Chile – skipper Liam Turner forced opposition winger Lukas Carvallo into touch with the try-line in sight – but a converted finish by Andrew Smith ultimately gave them a 26-3 interval buffer.
Squeezed in between a raft of personnel changes on the resumption, Turner (a Grand Slam winner with the Ireland U20s in 2019) touched down under the posts for a 43rd-minute try. No 8 Sean O’Brien wore the green jersey at the same age grade a year after Turner and he claimed a breakaway score for a rampant Leinster on the stroke of 50 minutes.
Due to the spate of alterations that were being made by Leo Cullen and his Chilean counterpart Pablo Lemoine, the play became increasingly disjointed as the minutes passed by, with both sides struggling to create a coherent rhythm. Chile admirably persevered with their challenge in the final-quarter, but Videla’s early three-pointer was ultimately all the visitors could muster over the course of the action.
Leinster Scorers
Tries: Lee Barron 2, Cormac Foley, Andrew Smith, Liam Turner, Sean O’Brien.
Conversions: Charlie Tector [5 from 6]
Chile Scorers
Penalties: Santiago Videla [1 from 1]
LEINSTER: Chris Cosgrave; Rob Russell (Colm Hogan half-time), Liam Turner (Sam Prendergast ’48), Ben Brownlee (Aitzol King ’49), Andrew Smith; Charlie Tector, Cormac Foley (Nick McCarthy ’44-’58 & ‘73); Michael Milne (Marcus Hanan half-time), Lee Barron (John McKee ’44), Thomas Clarkson (Thomas Connolly ’44 (Temi Lasisi ’76)); Brian Deeny, Cormac Daly; Rhys Ruddock (Scott Penny half-time), Conall Boomer, Sean O’Brien.
CHILE: Santiago Videla; Lukas Carvallo (Rodrigo Fernández ’43), Matías Garafulic, Clemente Armstrong, Gaspar Moltedo (José Ignacio Larenas ’66); Diego Warnken, Nicolás Herreros (Benjamin Videla ’58); Salvador Lues (Matías Dittus ’76), Diego Escobar, Iñaki Gurruchaga (Javier Carrasco ’58); Pablo Huete, Javier Eissmann; Martín Sigren, Ignacio Silva, Clemente Saavedra (Joaquin Milesi ’48).
Referee: Peter Martin (IRFU).
FULL-TIME
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) November 18, 2022
40 unanswered points see Leinster beat Chile this afternoon in the @BankofIreland Friendly in #EnergiaPark
🔵🟡 40-3 🇨🇱#LEIvCHI #FromTheGroundUp pic.twitter.com/1QUtWv4hQW
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