Scotland opened their account quickly after being gifted a strong attacking platform inside Chile’s half as Ross Thompson nudged a penalty for a line out inside the 22. With Chile not contesting it was an easy win in the air and quickly Ross McCann was able to find space on the right wing before putting full-back Arron Reed through a gap to cross the try line. Ross Thompson lined up the conversion but it was unsuccessful. But it was an exciting start as Scotland A scored their first home points since 2014 [5-0, 3 mins].

After 10 minutes of interchanging play, Scotland were penalised for holding on in the ruck. With Chile just over the half-way line, they opted to kick for the points to get their account going however, Santiago Videla’s shot was short of the mark.

The tides began to turn for Chile as they began to dominate in attack, spending the best part of 10 minutes inside Scotland’s half. Jamie Dobie and Freddy Douglas proved themselves to be a real nuisance around the breakdown, constantly causing disruption to the visitors’ platform.

However, it was Chile who would next disrupt the flow when full-back Luca Strabucchi got himself between Stafford McDowall and Arron Reed to intercept play. In football fashion he kicked the ball down the pitch, chasing as he went before dotting it down beneath the sticks for their first try. Santiago Videla had an easy conversion in front of the posts, which sailed over for the extras, giving Chile the lead for the first time [5-7, 29 mins].

Scotland suffered further misfortunate ahead of the half-time whistle as captain McDowall was shown a yellow card by referee Gianluca Gnecchi for dangerous clear out at the ruck, croc-rolling his opposition. This ruled him out for the remainder of the half and the opening two minutes of the second half.

The opening phases of the first half saw Scotland defending their try line well, with youngster Douglas, known for his impressive turnover rate at U20 level, doing just that to Chile just meters from the line. Just as Scotland tried to come back into the game, it was time for a break.

Half-time: Scotland A 5 – 7 Chile

Scrum-half Ben Afshar was the first of the changes in the first half, replacing Stafford McDowall. This saw Jamie Dobie move to full-back with the rest of the backline shuffling in one position.

Chile were quick to make an impression in the second half and managed to take themselves up to Scotland’s 22 for a line out. It was here that Scotland’s Jamie Bhatti was penalised for tackling a player in the air. Capitalising on their position in Scottish territory, Chile’s Santiago Videla stepped up to the tee once again and kicked a successful penalty to extend the lead for Chile [5-10, 47 mins].

After a back and forth 10 minutes neither side was really getting anywhere with penalties being conceded across both sides of the ball. But finally, there was a spark of magic for Scotland. As Chile launched the ball from boot into the sky, Ben Afshar was able to get hands on the ball and make a break, darting his way down the pitch from half way. With the crowd of Hive spurring him on it felt as though he had the legs to go all the way, but he was taken down in contact but Tom Dodd was fast behind him, and he gathered the ball to dot down. Ross Thompson successful added the extras and was then replaced by Ben Healy, earning a break for his work [12-10, 57 mins].

The next set of changes followed, this time for the forward pack as Mikey Jones came on for Jamie Bhatti, Liam McConnell replaced Ben Muncaster, and Harri Morris came on for Gregor Hiddleston.

With refreshed horsepower in the engine room, a lineout inside Chile’s 22 seemed like a winner, and it was, with Scotland proving to be much too powerful for the visitors. Scotland were awarded a penalty with Chile deemed to be offside. The men in blue opted to tap and go, just metres out from the whitewash, but to Scotland’s misfortune, Chile’s Matías Garafulic intercepted the ball from Liam McConnell, before tearing it down the left wing. Exceptionally quick work saw Ross McCann put in a thumping tackle and win the turnover, putting the crowd at Hive Stadium at ease.

Head Coach Pete Horne made the last of his changes ahead of the final 10 minute with Jare Oguntibeju replacing Marshall Sykes, Fin Richardson taking over from D’arcy Rae and Jack Brown replacing Ross McCann for the remaining 10 minutes.

On the hunt for another try and a more solid extension of their lead. After a series of penalties were conceded by Chile, Scotland had a line out on Chile’s 5 metre line. The visitors were deemed to have collapsed the maul, and so, Scotland were awarded a penalty try and Chile were reduced to 14 men for the rest of the match with Raimundo Martínez shown a yellow card [19-10, 71 mins].

Scotland seemed to be doing well controlling the final period of the match, however a misconnection in the backline as the final seconds played out saw Matías Garafulic intercept the ball and charge down the pitch to score under the sticks. Santiago Videla added the extras, closing Chile’s account to 17 points and with it, the match. Although it wasn’t enough to win, it was an impressive finish for the visitors.

Full-time: Scotland A 19 – 17 Chile

Scotland A: 15. Arron Reed (Sale Sharks) 14. Matt Currie (Edinburgh Rugby) 13. Mosese Tuipulotu (Edinburgh Rugby) 12. Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors) [replaced by Ben Afshar, 42 mins] 11. Ross McCann (Edinburgh Rugby) [replaced by Jack Brown, 71 mins] 10. Ross Thompson (Edinburgh Rugby) [replaced by Ben Healy, 57 mins] 9. Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors) 1. Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) [replaced by Mikey Jones, 62 mins] 2. Gregor Hiddleston (Glasgow Warriors) [replaced by Harri Morris, 62 mins] 3. D’Arcy Rae (Edinburgh Rugby) [Replaced by Fin Richardson after 4 mins and 69 mins] 4. Marshall Sykes (Edinburgh Rugby) [replaced by Jare Oguntibeju, 69 mins] 5. Ewan Johnston (Oyannax) 6. Tom Dodd (Edinburgh Rugby) 7. Freddy Douglas (Edinburgh Rugby) 8. Ben Muncaster (Edinburgh Rugby) [replaced by Liam McConnel, 62 mins].

Replacements: 16. Harri Morris (Edinburgh Rugby) 17. Mikey Jones (Edinburgh Rugby) 18. Fin Richardson (Glasgow Warriors) 19. Jare Oguntibeju (Glasgow Warriors) 20. Liam McConnell (Edinburgh Rugby) 21. Ben Afshar (Glasgow Warriors) 22. Ben Healy (Edinburgh Rugby) 23. Jack Brown (Edinburgh Rugby)

Chile: 15. Luca Strabucchi 14. Cristóbal Game 13. Domingo Saavedra 12. Santiago Videla 11. Matías Garafulic 10. Juan Cruz Reyes 9. Benjamín Videla 1. Javier Carrasco 2. Diego Escobar 3. Iñaki Gurruchaga 4. Santiago Pedrero 5. Bruno Sáez 6. Martín Sigren CAPTAIN 7. Clemente Saavedra 8. Alfonso Escobar

Replacements: 16. Augusto Böhme 17. Norman Aguayo 18. Matías Dittus 19. Raimundo Martínez 20. Ernesto Tchimino 21. Marcelo Torrealaba 22. Rodrigo Fernández 23. Nicolás Garafulic

Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (ITA)

Player of the Match: Freddy Douglas (Scotland A)