Chile national rugby union team

Rugby was introduced in Chile roughly around the late 19th century, as it was in other parts of South America by British immigrants who arrived in ports.[1] The first recorded rugby game taking place on Chilean soil was in 1894, from British immigrants who lived in both Santiago, Iquique and Valparaíso. Until the 1930s, the game was initially mostly played by the British-descended community of Chile.[2] In 1935, the Chilean Rugby Federation was founded.

Chile's first ever fixtures were against Argentina in September 1936, a two-game series played in the capital Santiago. Chile lost both of their games by scorelines of 0 to 20 and 3 to 31, respectively. Chile would visit Argentina in 1938 in Buenos Aires, losing 3 to 33. Chile would not play another fixture until 1948, where they beat Uruguay 21 to 3 in Buenos Aires.

The Chilean team began competing more consistently in the 1950s. In 1951, Chile played the first South American Rugby Championship against Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina in 1951; Chile finished third, beating Brazil by a margin of 68 to nil, but losing to both Uruguay and Argentina. In 1952, Chile received Ireland on tour, but lost in Santiago 30 to 0. Chile would play another Five Nations side, this time France on tour, but lost 34–3. In 1958, Chile participated in the second South American Rugby Championship, finishing second; Chile easily beat both Peru and Uruguay before falling to Argentina, finishing second.

By the 1960s Chile saw itself established as a middle contender in South America. Chile were consistently beating sides like Brazil and Uruguay, but couldn't breakthrough against the mighty Argentina. In 1966, Chile received the Springboks, their first test against a SANZAR side, but lost 72 to 0. During the 1970s Chile didn't play any non-South American competition; for the most part Chile were finishing second or third in South America, usually beating Brazil and newcomers Paraguay, and dog fighting for second against Uruguay. In the 1980s, former coach of France Jean-Pierre Juanchich took over administration of rugby in Chile, which led to better promotion, awareness, and improvement in Chilean rugby. In 1989, a proper governing body for rugby in South America, CONSUR, was formed.

Chile formally joined the International Rugby Board in 1991, allowing Chile to participate formally in World Cup competitions. In 1993, Chile participated in its first ever World Cup Qualifying competition in 1993, entering qualifying for the 1995 Rugby World Cup; however, they lost all their fixtures to Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, finishing bottom of the group. In 1995, Chile played Spain, winning 28 – 23.

The 1999 Rugby World Cup qualifying campaign was more successful. Chile easily swept through a group containing the teams of Bermuda and Trinidad and Tobago. However, Chile lost 14 to 20 against Uruguay, therefore missing out on a repechage spot, and potentially a spot in the World Cup.

In 2000, Chile came within 2 points of defeating Argentina. This improved form would continue through the early 2000s, easily disposing of Brazil in their first qualifier for the 2003 Rugby World Cup. In the final round, a round robin containing Canada, Uruguay, and the United States, the Chileans won their first home fixture versus Uruguay before losing their next two to the US and Canada. Despite this, Chile recorded an upset, defeating the United States 21 to 13 in Santiago. Despite being improved, Chile dropped their next two games, finishing the campaign with 2 wins and 4 losses. Unfortunately for Chile, they finished bottom on try difference, yet again missing out on a repechage spot, and potential qualification.

Chile then took part at an Intercontinental Cup at home in Santiago in November 2004. Where they recorded arguably one their greatest victories at the time, defeating an up and coming Georgia side 30-24.

The 2007 qualifiers were mostly the same song as the previous campaigns; Chile swept their first round against Paraguay and Brazil but in the final group lost both their games to Argentina and Uruguay, which once again would have secured a repechage at least, and potentially an automatic spot in the World Cup.

The 2011 campaign was short-lived, having automatically been seeded into Round 3A of the qualifiers in the new format. Chile cruised to victory versus Brazil but once again lost to familiar foes Uruguay, and once again missing out on a potential repechage or automatic qualifier.

In 2010, Chile nearly started the new decade with a bang, coming very close to defeating Oceania powerhouse Tonga, but losing 32–30. The following year in 2011, Chile beat Uruguay for the first time in nine years, winning 21–18 and finishing second in the South American Championship.

The decade has been marked by inconsistency in results. In 2013, Chile began their qualifying campaign, opening up with a victory versus Brazil, but yet again lost to foes Uruguay, following the same pattern of results since the 1999 campaign. In 2014, Chile reached a bottom point; in the 2014 South American Championship, they finished bottom of the group, losing to Brazil for the first time in their history.[3] Chile were also wooden spooners in the 2014 CONSUR Cup, the new competition featuring Argentina and the top 2 sides in South America. However, the following year, Chile won the South American Championship for the first time in their history, cruising through both Brazil and Paraguay before defeating Uruguay at home 30–15.

In 2016, Chile participated in the first Americas Rugby Championship in its current format. Chile squeaked a home win versus Brazil, before playing a close game against Argentina before tiring out in the last 20 minutes, ultimately losing 52–15. Chile were blown out by the United States in Fort Lauderdale 64–0 before nearly beating Uruguay, losing 20–23. Chile lost their last game at home versus Canada, 64–13, finishing bottom in the inaugural edition.

In the 2017 Americas Rugby Championship, Chile was defeated in all five matches, scoring just four tries in the tournament. In the 2017 Cup of Nations, the team claimed a win over Kenya, while losing to Russia and Hong Kong.

Going into the 2020s Chile finally looked to have turned a corner after having successfully come through the first rounds of South America qualification for the 2023 RWC, they went into the Americas 2 Repechage with strong chances of upsetting a weakened Canada side. In a 2 legged play-off Chile held Canada to a tight 22-21 opener at Langford, British Columbia before overcoming 33-24 in Valparaiso, winning 54-46 on aggregate and booking their place in the Americas 2 qualifier v the USA. It was also their first ever win over Canada at the 8th attempt and one of their biggest scalps yet.

In July 2022 Chile qualified for the Rugby World Cup for the first time. They secured their place with an aggregate 52–51 win over the United States, overturning a one-point deficit in the first leg with a 31–29 win in Glendale, Colorado.[4]

Men's World Rugby Rankings Top 30 as of 23 October 2023[5]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		South Africa	092.79
2		New Zealand	091.56
3		Ireland	090.57
4		France	087.81
5		England	083.72
6		Scotland	083.43
7		Argentina	082.42
8		Wales	080.64
9		Australia	077.48
10		Fiji	076.38
11		Italy	075.93
12		Japan	074.27
13		Portugal	072.78
14		Georgia	072.68
15		Samoa	072.23
16		Tonga	071.57
17		Uruguay	067.39
18		United States	066.22
19		Spain	064.05
20		Romania	063.28
21		Namibia	060.56
22		Chile	060.49
23		Canada	060.46
24		Hong Kong	059.80
25		Russia	058.06
26		Brazil	056.35
27		Netherlands	055.84
28		Switzerland	055.72
29		Belgium	054.58
30		South Korea	053.46
* Change from the previous week
Chile's historical rankings
See or edit source data.
Source: World Rugby[5] Graph updated to 23 October 2023

Below is a table of the representative rugby matches played by a Chile national XV at test level up until 5 October 2023.

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Argentina	40	0	40	0	0.00%	242	1686	−1444
Argentina XV	12	1	11	0	8.03%	179	576	−397
Argentina Jaguars	1	0	1	0	0.00%	23	42	−19
Bermuda	1	1	0	0	100.00%	65	8	+57
Brazil	28	22	4	2	78.57%	893	337	+556
Canada	9	1	7	0	11.11%	137	313	−176
England	1	0	1	0	0.00%	0	71	−71
Fiji	1	0	1	0	0.00%	16	41	−25
France Amateur	1	0	1	0	0.00%	3	22	−19
France XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	3	34	−31
Georgia	2	1	1	0	50.00%	36	53	−17
Germany	1	1	0	0	100.00%	32	10	+22
Hong Kong	1	0	1	0	0.00%	6	13	−7
Japan	1	0	1	0	0.00%	12	42	−30
Kenya	1	1	0	0	100.00%	23	3	+20
Namibia	1	0	1	0	0.00%	26	28	−2
Paraguay	27	26	1	0	96.30%	1098	276	+822
Peru	2	2	0	0	100.00%	62	6	+56
Portugal	4	0	4	0	0.00%	67	110	−43
Romania	2	0	2	0	0.00%	34	57	−23
Russia	3	2	1	0	66.66%	83	98	−15
Spain	5	2	3	0	40.00%	86	151	−65
Samoa	1	0	1	0	0.00%	10	43	−33
Scotland A	1	0	1	0	0.00%	5	45	−40
South Korea	2	1	1	0	50.00%	66	50	+16
Tonga	2	0	2	0	0.00%	40	71	−31
Trinidad and Tobago	1	1	0	0	100.00%	35	6	+29
United States	8	2	6	0	25.00%	125	336	−211
Uruguay	50	10	39	1	20.00%	753	1229	−476
Venezuela	1	1	0	0	100.00%	95	3	+92
Total	211	75	132	3	35.55%	4255	5760	−1505

• 2016 - Sixth place
• 2017 - Sixth place
• 2018 - Sixth place
• 2019 - Sixth place

On 14 August, Chile named an initial 30-player squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.[6] The final 3 players were later named on 27 August.[7]

Head Coach: Pablo Lemoine

• Caps Updated: 14 August 2023

Player	Position	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Club/province
Augusto Böhme	Hooker	(1997-06-11) 11 June 1997	22	Selknam
Tomás Dussaillant	Hooker	(1990-10-06) 6 October 1990	37	Selknam
Diego Escobar	Hooker	(2000-04-17) 17 April 2000	5	Selknam
Javier Carrasco	Prop	(1997-08-24) 24 August 1997	19	Selknam
Matías Dittus	Prop	(1993-07-16) 16 July 1993	21	Périgueux
Iñaki Gurruchaga	Prop	(1995-10-13) 13 October 1995	11	Selknam
Esteban Inostroza	Prop	(1994-01-01) 1 January 1994	1	Selknam
Vittorio Lastra	Prop	(1996-03-26) 26 March 1996	22	Selknam
Salvador Lues	Prop	(1999-11-06) 6 November 1999	11	Selknam
Javier Eissmann	Lock	(1997-03-21) 21 March 1997	21	Selknam
Pablo Huete	Lock	(1989-01-11) 11 January 1989	30	Selknam
Santiago Pedrero	Lock	(2000-11-30) 30 November 2000	6	Selknam
Augusto Sarmiento	Lock	(1993-04-26) 26 April 1993	15	Selknam
Alfonso Escobar	Back row	(1997-08-17) 17 August 1997	18	Selknam
Raimundo Martínez	Back row	(1999-11-25) 25 November 1999	10	Selknam
Thomas Orchard	Back row	(1997-01-12) 12 January 1997	12	Selknam
Clemente Saavedra	Back row	(1997-12-15) 15 December 1997	20	Selknam
Martín Sigren (c)	Back row	(1996-05-14) 14 May 1996	27	Doncaster Knights
Ignacio Silva	Back row	(1989-02-16) 16 February 1989	38	Selknam
Lukas Carvallo	Scrum-half	(2001-07-06) 6 July 2001	6	Selknam
Nicolás Herreros	Scrum-half	(1990-01-23) 23 January 1990	5	Selknam
Marcelo Torrealba	Scrum-half	(1996-05-06) 6 May 1996	12	Selknam
Benjamín Videla	Scrum-half	(2001-04-24) 24 April 2001	0	Selknam
Rodrigo Fernández	Fly-half	(1996-02-08) 8 February 1996	23	Selknam
Santiago Videla	Fly-half	(1998-01-16) 16 January 1998	25	Selknam
Pablo Casas	Centre	(1992-03-04) 4 March 1992	15	Selknam
Matías Garafulic	Centre	(2000-09-01) 1 September 2000	12	Selknam
José Larenas	Centre	(1989-09-14) 14 September 1989	47	Selknam
Domingo Saavedra	Centre	(1997-12-15) 15 December 1997	24	Selknam
Nicolás Garafulic	Wing	(1998-09-11) 11 September 1998	19	Selknam
Franco Velarde	Wing	(1994-11-04) 4 November 1994	16	Selknam
Iñaki Ayarza	Fullback	(1999-09-07) 7 September 1999	14	Soyaux Angoulême
Francisco Urroz	Fullback	(1993-09-07) 7 September 1993	11	Selknam

• Donald Campbell
• Ian Campbell
• Alastair MacGregor Martin
• Cristian Onetto
• Sergio Valdes
• Francisco Planella

The following companies are the main sponsors of the Chilean team for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. [8]

• Umbro
• Banco de Chile

• Sodimac
• Copec
• Burger King
• Kunstmann
• Fernet Branca
• Universal Assistance
• Energy Club