Ascension of Las Manques: The story behind Chile's first Test match

2025 was a blockbuster year for women’s rugby. Not only because we saw of the best-ever edition of the Women’s Rugby World Cup, but setting new records, milestones and proving beyond all doubt that the women’s game is thriving at the top level.

But not everything spectacular happened in the United Kingdom. In South America, a proud nation debuted a 15-a-side squad: Chile.

After several years of only fielding their national team at sevens events, the Manques (female for Condores, which is the official nickname of the men’s side) stepped into the XVs pitch for the first time on the Sunday 26 October 2025.

23 Chilean players travelled to Peru’s beautiful capital of Lima and collected a 54-0 win over their hosts to cap a memorable occasion that had been eagerly anticipated.

Led by former Portugal international, Eduardo Acosta, who was born and raised in Argentina, the Manques took their first step into the XVs Test match scene and have their sights set on reaching higher heights.

The head coach, chosen by the Federación Deportiva Nacional de Rugby to lead the project 13 months ago, explains how it all began.

“We started working in January 2025,” the experienced coach said. “The idea was clear when I joined the Chilean union, to establish a 15-a-side women’s national team.

“The women’s game in Chile is mostly devoted to the sevens, which made it all an even bigger challenge as we needed to set up the structure and mindset if we wanted to compete with other, more well-established rugby nations.”

Acosta arrived in the country in 2024 to get involved with the men’s and women’s teams, working as an set-piece assistant coach with the Condores, while taking the reins as the head coach of the Manques.

His time is also spent coaching one of the CEFAR (Centros de Entrenamiento Formativo de Alto Rendimiento) Academies, which is Chile’s women’s regional high performance training environment. For the head coach that system was key to allowing Chile to debut their XVs women’s side.

“Each region has a team that competes in the intra CEFAR league. It comprises the best players from those regions, and from there, we selected 45 players to participate in the national team camp. After a few weeks of training together, we picked the list of 30 players that were going to face Peru.”

With that being said, what’s CEFAR’s goal? Acosta shed light on what they seek to accomplish in the next few years.

“We are focused on working with them in different areas, helping players to get used to the high-performance programme,” Acosta said.

“The biggest challenge is educating them about conditioning and nutrition. If we want to get to the next level, players have to be able to understand by themselves how vital it is to work in the gym and how good nutrition is key for them to perform at a higher level.”

For Acosta, the step into the 15-a-side game was the right decision by the union, as players were seeking a different challenge after several years of only playing rugby sevens.

Juaquina Herrera, who started as the Manques scrum-half in their clash against Peru, acknowledges the words of her coach, shared her views about the latest developments in the Chilean women’s rugby.

“I know it might sound like a cliché, but the women’s game in Chile has progressed quite a lot in the last several years,” she said. “The Chilean union pressured players, clubs and regions to believe that it was possible to play XVs. We only played sevens. But the union put in place the platform for us to make the jump.

“And while things got more demanding for us, we feel happy with it, as we can now unlock our full potential.”

Herrera, who first got involved with the sport when she was 15 and had to play with adult women, explains how far the women’s game in Chile has come since the 2010s and how excited they are to be living in uncharted waters.

“For us, this is something completely new, as we have our own head coach and staff, who are fully committed to helping us become better players,” the 24-year-old said. “We need more resources to keep progressing. I believe that the union believes in us.”

In the men’s game Chile have seen a spectacular increase in the number of women playing, with more young girls joining clubs and academies.

“For sure, there are more young girls playing rugby now. When I first started nine years ago, we were so few, and the adult players helped us by motivating us to keep playing. It has drastically changed, and now you can see more girls getting involved with rugby.”

After investing in women’s programmes, the union’s next objective is to develop youth girls’ competitions, which Herrera believes is still an untapped area.

“When the regional academies teams play, they try to set up games between our youth sides so we can give them an experience of what it is like to play rugby. While there have not been any official youth girls’ competitions so far, regional academies are now considering holding one this year.”

Despite the lack of local 15s games for young girls, Acosta has seen growing interest from young athletes who want to reach the highest level.

“I can say that there’s an overall excitement with the women’s game in Chile, as the youngest players tell me that they can’t believe they are now not only training with some of their idols but playing against them as well.”

Having taken the first steps into the XVs universe, for both Acosta and Herrera the next chapter has to be a full-on calendar with more fixtures and challenges.

“For me, that’s the way to go,” the head coach, who previously worked with Paraguay, said. “If we play more fixtures against our neighbours, we will all develop at a faster pace. For now, our goal is to play one Test match per year at least. We are close to setting up one with Mexico.”

“We want to play more games,” Herrera echoed. “Before setting up any top-level goals, we want to have more fixtures and keep growing as athletes. I know I might be repeating myself, but without games, we can’t challenge ourselves.”

While talking about the possibility of competing in a women’s Sudamericano competition, Herrera recalled the match in Peru and how it has already changed the future of the women’s game in Chile forever.

“We were really looking forward to it. You know the Spanish word ‘ganas’ (desire)? Well, we were packed with them. We weren’t even nervous or anxious, as we only wanted to step onto the pitch and play. We waited for it for so long, and we only wanted for the match official to start the game.”

While few expected them to leave Lima with such a monumental and high-scoring result, Herrera says that they weren’t surprised. The players and staff have been working overtime to make things work.

For her, the 15-a-side can open a world of opportunities for the Manques.

“We have the resources, the right players and the conditions to fight for a World Cup qualification in the future,” she said. “While in the sevens we don’t have the right build, in the XVs we do. I am certain that if we all work towards the same direction, we can pull off something remarkable.”

As for Acosta, he was certain the team would fare well against Peru, as he had seen a firm commitment from the players to show what they could do on the international stage.

“It was deeply inspiring seeing how they tackled the challenge of playing their first Test match. They poured everything into it and were serious from the first to the last second. They want to compete, to be better and to inspire young girls to play rugby.”

Acosta has called rugby his home for more than twenty-five years, recognises his players’ effort, ambitions and passion for the sport.

“I firmly believe that the Chilean women’s rugby has a great future ahead of it. That’s why we focus on the tiniest details. We want to help players believe in themselves, build a squad that can compete against the likes of Colombia and Brazil and dream of qualifying for a World Cup.”

As for Herrera, while she is working hard to become the best version of herself. She is savouring the present and the accomplishments her teammates have made over the last few months.

“We keep reminding ourselves that we have to enjoy and live in the present,” the half-back said. “The past is the past, and whatever comes next, it will come. It doesn’t make any sense if we don’t enjoy the moment.”

As the Manques continue to extend their wings and fly towards a new era for the Chilean women’s game, Herrera ends by stating her profound passion for a sport that has given everything to her.

“Rugby is my teacher. I discovered it when I was 15, and it has been on my side since then. The women who trained and played with me helped me become a woman and believe in myself. They are my family.”