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For the first time two Chilean players will compete in the top division of French rugby. Bayonne have confirmed that prop Ramón Ayarza will continue with the club this season after signing as a medical joker at the end of last season’s championship run in Pro D2. Together with second row Pablo Huete, Los Cóndores will now have two internationals on the books for Bayonne’s return to the Top 14. The duo become the second and third Chileans to participate in the top flight, and the first since lock Sergio Valdés with Auch in the 2007-08 season.
For Ayarza the confirmation of a full-time contract in the Top 14 caps a remarkable year for the loosehead who celebrates his 23rd birthday in a fortnight. After joining the academy of Pro D2 side Carcassonne in 2014, Ayarza moved to La Voulte in Fédérale 1 at the start of last season. He then made such an impression during his two starts in the Americas Rugby Championship that he was signed by Bayonne, then in Pro D2, as a medical joker to replace injured Tongan Ofa Fainga’anuku. The latter has now been released as Bayonne have won promotion to the Top 14, with Ayarza retained instead.
The rise to the Top 14 has been more gradual for Huete. At 27 years old this will be his sixth year in France, having moved to Castres on an academy deal in 2011 after playing with Tasman in New Zealand’s ITM Cup (now Mitre 10 Cup). A two-year senior deal with Pau came in the 2012-13 season, followed by one year with Massy Essonne and then a breakthrough season with Bayonne last year, when he was one of the most consistent performers across the Pro D2. Huete did not appear in the ARC this season and Los Cóndores may now struggle to obtain the services of either of their top pros for the 2017 competition.
Both Ayarza and Huete share common paths through Chilean rugby. Each attended the Grange School in Santiago, and then graduated to play senior club rugby with Old Gragnonian Club, more commonly referred to as Old Boys. Current Chilean internationals at the club include hooker Tomás Dusaillant, loose forward Gustavo Carrasco, and scrumhalf Beltrán Vergara.
