Los Pumas player ratings vs Chile | Rugby World Cup 2023

Los Pumas have scored a comfortable 59-5 victory over Chile in Nantes.

Nicolas Sanchez – playing his 100th match for Argentina – got the scoring underway in the ninth minute with an excellent solo try, with two further scores coming off the back of mauls during the first half.

Los Pumas earned their bonus point in the 46th minute and sent a warning signal to Japan ahead of what will decide the final quarter-final qualifier from Pool D when the two sides meet next weekend.

How did Argentina rate in the win?

1. Joel Sclavi – 7
Put in a sizeable shift. Scrums were a bit all over the place. Forced one penalty but, like the other three starting props, was pinged for not driving straight. Also penalised once for not rolling away from the tackle. Finished the first half as Argentina’s busiest ball-carrier. Off in 62nd minute.

2. Agustin Creevy – 9
Featured prominently in the opening exchanges. Nice work over the ball saw Argentina rewarded with a penalty. Got a clean steal later in the half. Crashed over for one try from a well-set maul. Fought off plenty of defenders with every carry. Even claimed one high ball. Ensured Argentina had plenty of possession with 100 per cent lineout accuracy. Off in 55th minute.

3. Eduardo Bello – 6
As with his propping partner, earned two penalties at the scrum for Argentina but copped another for not pushing straight. Made his tackles but wasn’t called upon to cart the ball up. Off in 47th minute.

4. Guido Petti – 8
Did some excellent work around the breakdown. King of the lineouts, claiming nine of Argentina’s deliveries. Some strong counter-rucking helped force a turnover for Los Pumas. Penalised for a pointless off-the-ball push on Chile loosehead prop Javier Carrasco. Off in 62nd minute.

5. Pedro Rubiolo – 5
Part of a reasonably efficient forward effort from Argentina, but still the weakest link in the pack. Did some key dirty work.

6. Juan Martin Gonzalez – 7
Proved a difficult man to bring to ground when his legs got pumping. Grabbed two relatively easy tries, the first from a rolling maul and the second from ranging up on the wing. Penalised late for an attempted breakdown steal, with Chile driving over the line from the ensuing lineout.

7. Marcos Kremer – 6
Useful at lineout time and hit plenty of breakdowns but most of his work was done on defence. Finished with 10 tackles to his name – a good return, given Chile’s relative lack of ball. Also missed three, including one that could have been costly. Off in 51st minute.

8. Facundo Isa – 8
Got plenty of touches of the pill. Had the ball dislodged when carrying close to the line. Made one strong bust off the back of a scrum. Made a nice run down the right-hand flank to almost score a great individual try – but probably should have given the ball to one of his supporting runners. A nice draw-and-offload created a try down the right-hand sideline for his loose forward teammate.

9. Tomas Cubelli – 5
Delivery was relatively consistent but never provided a running threat, making it fairly easy for Chile to predict where the ball was heading. A couple of box kicks either didn’t have the height needed or travelled too far for the chasers to get underneath. Off in 47th minute.

10. Nicolas Sanchez – 8
Challenged the line and brushed off plenty of defenders in a rare start for the experienced playmaker. Beat three defenders en route to the try line. Found good distance with his kicks to touch. Played less of a role with the ball in hand as the match wore on but kept things ticking along off the boot, nailing all eight of attempts on post for a 17-point haul. Off in 77th minute.

11. Juan Imhoff – 3
Had just a couple of touches of the ball and really needed to go looking for work. Off in 62nd minute.

12. Jeronimo de la Fuente – 7
Made one nice break in the midfield and was always available in support for his teammates. The busiest back on defence, completing 10 tackles.

13. Lucio Cinti – 7
A nice link player in the midfield, seemed to always pop up to receive an offload when it looked like the ball might die. Stripped after one run. Left the field for an HIA in the 12th minute but eventually returned to the park.

14. Rodrigo Isgro – 6
Sent to the sin bin for a high tackle. Made one nice dart from inside Argentina’s 22 but his first major contribution came early in the final quarter when he burst onto an inside ball from Lautaro Bazan Velez and fought his way over the try line.

15. Martin Bogado – 7
Inserted himself well into the backline. Stepped his way around a few Chile defenders to grab Los Pumas’ bonus point try. A double mix-up with Isgro at the end of the third quarter eventually resulted in a scrum near halfway for Chile when Argentina should have been attacking in the red zone.

Reserves:

16. Ignacio Ruiz – 7
On in 55th minute. Bashed his way over the line for a close-range try. Kept things humming at the lineout.

17. Mayco Vivas – N/A
On in 62nd minute.

18. Francisco Gomez Kodela – 6
On in 47th minute.

19. Matias Alemanno – 5
1 lineout. On in 51st minute. Trucked the ball up as needed but didn’t really add much in the way of impact.

20. Joaquin Oviedo – 6
On in 62nd minute. The match had lost a bit of structure by the time Oviedo entered the fray, but still made some nice hits on defence.

21. Lautaro Bazan Velez – 7
On in 47th minute. Penalised for an illegal steal attempt. Chile almost grabbed their first try of the match from the ensuing lineout. Threw a nice short ball to Isgro for his try and ran some nice support lines.

22. Santiago Carreras – N/A
On in 77th minute. Showed good pace in the wider channels to finish off a nice counter-attack.

23. Juan Cruz Mallia – N/A
Spent some minutes on the park early but entered as a permanent sub in the 62nd minute.