Chile topple Rugby World Cup regulars to book 2027 place

Twenty thousand Chilean fans welcomed both Chile and Samoa to Viña del Mar’s Estadio Sausalito, where the hosts claimed a spectacular 31-12 victory to book their tickets for Australia 2027.

After a 32-point draw in the first leg, Samoa had the chance to edge ahead five minutes in, but Martini Talapusi’s kick drifted right. Moments later it was Chile’s turn to go for goal, with Santiago Videla on target from 40 metres.

Without Michael Alaalatoa and Christian Leali’ifano, Samoa still ran strong attacking lines and came close to the Cóndores’ try line, only for the home defence to hold firm.

Spurred on by the huge support from the stands, Chile raised the tempo and camped inside Samoa’s half, patiently working through the phases. Ill-discipline from the visitors saw Luke Pearce send Abraham Papali’i to the sin bin, handing Videla an easy three points.

Against 14 men, Pablo Lemoine’s side kept up the pressure, stringing together several sharp transitions that led to their first try. From a high kick, Diego Escobar gathered and offloaded perfectly to Benjamín Videla, the scrum-half sprinting clear to score. Santiago Videla added the extras.

On the half-hour mark, the Cóndores struck again, fullback Iñaki Ayarza finishing their second try. Videla missed the conversion for the only time on the night.

Samoa looked short of answers but finally found points before the break, former Blues and Crusaders back Melani Nanai crossing in the corner.

Chile were forty minutes from a second World Cup, but still wary of a repeat of the first leg when Samoa fought back into the tie.

The second half saw both sides lose composure, with errors piling up until the 62nd minute, when the Samoa pack finally drove over and Jonah Mau’u touched down at the back of a maul.

Any hopes of a comeback were killed off by further ill-discipline. Videla slotted two more penalties to restore Chile’s 12-point cushion.

With time almost gone, a fierce counter-ruck gave Chile their third and final try, wing Nicolás Saab sealing the result. Videla landed his sixth kick from the tee to confirm a 31-12 victory and Chile’s qualification for a second consecutive Rugby World Cup after 2023.

Samoa, denied a 10th tournament appearance, will have another chance via the World Rugby Repechage in November.