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The rise of Chile: From outsiders to World Cup qualifiers
Just over a week ago Chile made history by qualifying for their first ever Rugby World Cup. They swept aside the US Eagles in the Americas 2 play-off, recovering from a 22-21 first leg defeat in a mud-caked Santíago.
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Chile then travelled to Colorado for the second leg and needed nothing less than a 2pt win to seal qualification, but started slowly, conceding three early tries in quick succession.
This gave the USA a 20-point cushion, but that advantage slowly dissipated as Los Condores proceeded to mount a memorable comeback that culminated in Santiago Videla slotting a 75th minute game-winning penalty.
The 31-29 win was just enough for Chile who prevailed 52-51 on aggregate and booked their ticket to the Rugby World Cup next autumn.
This stunning result was somewhat overshadowed by Ireland’s series win in New Zealand which happened earlier on the same day, but take nothing away from Chile. They qualified for this playoff showdown by sweeping aside Canada, who have featured in every single World Cup to date, and backed that win up by defeating the USA away from home.
Five years ago Los Condores would only win the odd international game, but now they are gearing up to face England, Japan, Argentina and Samoa in Pool D next year.
Their rise has been staggering, but how exactly did Chile transition from rugby outsider to a contender on the biggest stage?
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The journey began in 1991 when Chile were invited to join the International Rugby Board (now World Rugby). This gave the country an opportunity to compete in World Cup qualifiers for the very first time.
Success was not forthcoming in the immediate years afterwards as the men in red continued to come up short, finding it hard to displace their South American rivals Argentina and Uruguay.
But things began to change in 2016 when Chile were inducted into the Americas Rugby Championship – an international competition which included Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the USA and Uruguay. This provided the national team with invaluable game-time experience against tier-two level opposition.
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Then in April 2019 a new club competition called the Superliga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) was launched – South America’s first professional league. Six different sides compete in the league, including the Chilean team Selknam who reached the 2022 grand final, only to lose 24-13 to the Uruguayan side Peñarol.
Incidentally, all but seven of the members of the squad that beat the USA play for Selknam, demonstrating the value of this relatively new outlet for competitive club rugby.
Both the Americas Rugby Championship and the SLAR helped develop the sport at national and international levels, but this on its own was not enough.
To engineer a true turnaround Chile needed someone influential to take charge of the national team. That role was filled in August 2018 by Pablo Lemoine, a former prop who had coached his home nation Uruguay to World Cup qualification in 2015, ending their 12-year absence from the competition.
Lemoine left his coaching role that same year but, despite his absence, Uruguay have continued to progress and in October 2021 they qualified for a third successive World Cup following a win over the US Eagles.
Lemoine returned to coaching in 2018 to take charge of the German national team, but was quickly ousted after their failure to qualify for the 2019 World Cup. Chile quickly snapped up the newly unemployed Lemoine and haven’t looked back since.
That is not to say it was plain sailing to begin with. In his first year in charge Lemoine saw the full scope of the job in front of him.
Chile finished dead last in the 2019 Americas Rugby Championship, ending with an overall points differential of minus 214, having scored just 33 points across five matches.
In the wake of that result, Lemoine set about restructuring his team and his first was appointing young flanker Martín Sigren as captain.
He also successfully launched an appeal for High Performance funding from World Rugby, which has given Chilean rugby a revenue boost of more than £200,000 over the last two years. That money has been used to mentor new coaches and build new training facilities, all with the aim of enhancing the opportunities available to prospective rugby players in the country.
The 47-year-old was an integral part of this appeal, partly because he also helped kickstart Uruguay’s High Performance plans back when he was their head coach.
Countries looking to improve rugby across all levels often rely heavily upon this type of external investment. The increased cash flow does, however, tend to come with the promise of improvements on the pitch, which is why Chile’s famous win over the USA is even more important.
The country’s new Sports Minister Alexandra Benado said as much when she announced that World Rugby have promised funding packages for the next five years off the back of Chile’s historic World Cup qualification.
Benado also explained that the money would first be used to redevelop a High Performance centre in the foothills overlooking Santiago.
When Chile first joined the Americas Rugby Championship in 2016, they were obliterated 64-0 by the USA in Fort Lauderdale and lost 64-13 to Canada. Six years on and they have beaten both north American nations on their way to reaching the Rugby World Cup for the first time in their history.
Comments on RugbyPass
Pot Kettle, the English and French teams have done it for years.
19 Go to commentsHas virtually played every minute of previous games. Back row of Li Lo Willie , Grace and Blackadder would be the 1. Crusaders issue is a very average 1st 5 who cannot run. Kicking in general play is also below par They need to put Yong Kemara in. He must have so.e talent for them to bring him down from Waikato. Hoehepa would struggle to play in so.e club sided
4 Go to commentsI hope this a good thing making all these changes!
2 Go to commentsThe Hurricanes are good, especially with a decent coach now. However, let’s be real, the Crusaders and Chiefs are clearly a good degree weaker without the players they’ve lost overseas now. The Canes lost one player. It’s also why the aussie teams ‘seem’ to be stronger.
9 Go to commentsOr you could develop your own players instead of constantly taking from the SH competition and weakening it in the process? With all the player and financial resources these unions have compared to SH countries you’d think they could manage that, or is weakening the SH comps and their national sides an added bonus? Probably.
3 Go to commentsNot so fast Aaron, we might need you in black yet lol. God knows he’d be a lot less nerve-racking than hot and (very) cold players like Perofeta. It’s really a shame Reuben Love isn’t playing 10, we’ve got enough 15 options.
4 Go to commentsAnd those from the NH still seem to be puzzled (and delighted) why NZ’s depth isn’t what it once was. Over 600 NZ players overseas, that’s insane. This sort of deal is why Super Rugby coaches have admitted they struggle now to find enough quality to fill out their squads.
6 Go to commentsArticle intéressant ! La question devrait régulièrement se poser pour les jeunes français originaires de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Wallis-et-Futuna et de Polynésie entre la Nouvelle-Zélande et la Métropole… Difficile pour la fédération française de rugby de se positionner : soit le choix est fait de dénicher les jeunes talents et de les faire venir très tôt en Métropole, au risque de les déraciner, soit on prend le risque de se les faire “piller” par les All Blacks qui, telle une araignée, essaye de récupérer tous les talents des îles du Pacifique… À la France de se défendre en développant l’aura du XV de France et des clubs français dans ses collectivités d’Outre-mer !
3 Go to commentsWrong bay. He needs to come to the REAL BAY which is Bay Of Plenty and have a crack at making the Chiefs.
3 Go to commentsIs Barrett going play full back??? They already have all the centers…
15 Go to commentsForgive my ignorance, I might not fully understand so would appreciate clarification: Didn’t the Bulls have to fly with three different carriers, paid for by the South African Rugby Union, whilst Edinburgh got a chartered flight sponsored by EPCR? Also, as far as I understand it South African teams don’t yet share in the revenue from the competition and are not allowed to host Semi-finals or Finals at home. Surely if everyone wants South Africans to “take the competition seriously” then they must make South Africans feel welcome, allow them to share in the revenue, and give them the same levels of access as the teams from the other countries. Just a reminder that South Africa has a large and passionate Rugby audience. Just by virtue of our teams being a part of these competitions means that more of us are likely to watch the knockout games, even if our teams haven’t qualified. It would be silly to alienate such a large audience by making them feel unwelcome.
19 Go to commentsFirst of all. This guy is very much behind the curve. All the bleating, whingeing, whining and moaning took place days ago already. Not adding anything to the topic other than more bleating, whingeing, whining and moaning. 🍼 Second of all, not one mention of the fact that South African teams can’t get home semi finals or finals. The tournament was undermined and devalued by the administrators. 🤡 Thirdly, football teams often have to juggle selections in mid week games, premier games, champions league games etc. and will from time to time prioritize certain titles over others. 🐒 And lastly FEK Neil, and anyone else for that matter, for insisting on telling teams how to manage themselves. If they make what is largely a business decision that suits them and doesn’t suit you - tough shite. 💩 It’s not rocket science as to why the Bulls did what they did. If this guy is too slow to figure it out (and is deliberately not mentioning one of the key reasons why) then he isn’t a journalist. He should join the rest of us pundit plebs in comments section. 🥴
19 Go to commentsSo the first door to knock on Rob is Parliament followed by HMRC. The Irish Revenue deliver a 40% tax relief rebate on the HIGHEST EARNING TEN YEARS of every pro Irish rugby players contract earnings at retirement. That goes a long way to both retaining their best talent and freeing up wages for marquee players. Who knows, if that had been in place in the UK, you might not have been able to poach Hoggy and Jonny Gray from Glasgow…!!!
3 Go to comments1. True, if that “free” ticket means access to all but the prized exhibit - EVIP only. SA cannot host semis, even if they’ve earned it (see Sharks vs ASM Clermont Auvergne at… Twickenham Stoop). 2. Why no selective outrage over Lyon doing the exact same thing a week earlier? Out of all the countries France send the most “B teams”, why nobody talking about “disrespect” and “prioritising domestic leagues” and “kicking them out”? 3. Why no mention of the Sharks fielding all of their Springboks for the second rate Challenge cup QF? No commitment? 4. Why no mention of all the SA teams qualifying for respective euro knock out comps in the two seasons they’ve been in it? How many euro teams have qualified for KO’s in their history? Can’t compete? 5. Why no mention of SA teams beating French and English giants La Rochelle and Saracens? How many euro teams have done that in their history? Add no quality? The fact is that SA teams are only in their second season in europe, with no status and a fraction of the resources. Since joining the URC, SA has seen a repatriation of a number of players, and this will only grow once SA start sharing in the profits of competing in these comps, meaning bigger squads with greater depth and quality, meaning they don’t have to prioritise comps as they have to now - they don’t have imports from Pacifica and South America and everywhere else in between like “European” teams have - also less “Saffas” in Prem and T14, that’s what we want right? 'If the South Africans are in, they need to be all in' True, and we have to ensure we give them the same status and resources as we give everyone else to do just that. A small compromise on scheduling will go a long way in avoiding these situations, but guess what, France and England wont compromise on scheduling because they ironically… prioritise their domestic comps, go figure!
19 Go to commentsthe success of the premiership can be summarized by : only 10 teams. It makes a huge difference with the overcrowded top 14 (let us not talk about Leinster and URC…)
1 Go to commentsGood for him. The ABs were fooling around again with converted fullbacks that had a penetration of a marshmallow. Laumape or as Aki has shown for Ireland, go forward is important in the centres. If it had been DMac - Aki- Aumua - Ioane- Telea- Jordan in France the final result would have been different.
4 Go to commentsDan Carter a apporté son professionnalisme, des méthodes de travail, un esprit qui manquaient à l’USAP. Son influence, même une fois blessé a été énorme. Et pour citer une anecdote, certains soirs il venait de lui-même à l’entraînement des jeunes pour dispenser ses conseils. On ne peut pas compter ce qu’il a apporté au club en heures de jeu sur le terrain. Est-ce que le club en a eu pour son argent ? Avec la publicité sur son nom et le titre, je suppose que oui.
1 Go to commentsThe SA sides are suffering from a bum rap here. There isn’t a side anywhere in the world that would do things differently in their shoes. They’ve been set up to fail in the EPCR comps by vested interests, with last minute intercontinental travel requirements that costs an arm and a leg to book in advance just on the possibility they might be required. And the total nonsense that denies any chance of home venues is entirely biased and absolutely unsporting. Either EPCR, the Top14 & the Gallagher Premiership get it sorted on a fair and equitable sporting basis for ALL participants or expect the ridicule to continue. Right now, these comps are a joke!
19 Go to commentsSA sides should do the right thing and leave the champions cup, they are lowering the standard with completely one sided games, not up to the right level. The greatest club tournament in the world is being banjaxed by the weak SA sides.
19 Go to commentsCouldnt agree more. SA sides need to show more committment and really have a go at the Champions Cup. Its quite possibly the most prestigious title in Europe and SA sides need to respect that prestige and serve up their best. EPCR needs to do more to ensure that sides from South Africa and sides travelling to and from SA have a better chance in this competition. The Bulls were put in a really difficult position of having to travel there and back in one week. One could argue that this is what the SA sides signed up for and that La Rochelle didnt complain or send out weakened sides despite having to travel to SA and back and play on successive weekends but surely the situation is also unfair on La Rochelle as well and so EPCR needs to think about successive gameweeks and the travel effect of the competition
19 Go to comments