Chile Roster Named for Rugby World Cup Preparations

Chile is in Rugby World Cup mode. Head Coach Pablo Lemoine has confirmed a list of 46 players to begin preparations for France 2023. The final roster will see 33 men named on Chile’s World Cup roster. Of note is that every player is home-grown.

As expected, Lemoine’s roster is heavily based on Selknam. The professional Chilean team was established following RWC 2019. Selknam debuted with a win over Peñarol in the 2020 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR).

Selknam competed in SLAR 2020, SLAR 2021, SLAR 2022 and Super Rugby Americas (SRA) 2023. The 2023 competition was rebranded. Selknam was experimental throughout the SRA 2023 season.

Chile’s captain is flanker Martín Sigren. He played for Selknam in 2020-2022 before moving to England. He played this past season for the Doncaster Knights. Prop Matías Dittus is similar only be moved from Selknam to Club Athlétique Périgueux in France. Center Iñaki Ayarza plays in the Pro D2 for Soyaux Angoulême XV in the Pro D2.

Former French Top 14 and New Zealand NPC second-rower Pablo Huete is included. He had a solid season for Selknam. Instances of additional former foreign-based professional players include Clemente Saavedra, Nicolás Herreros, Marcelos Torrealba, and Pablo Casas.

The roster also contains players who missed Super Rugby Americas 2023 through injury. Both second-rower Augusto Sarmiento and winger Franco Velarde have overcome injuries to have been named on Lemoine’s roster. On the other hand, Ramón Ayarza of the Toronto Arrows in Major League Rugby (MLR) and Sebastián Otero from the American Raptors in SRA both miss out as does Lucas Strabucchi.

There are opportunities for uncapped players across a range of positions. They include front-rowers Jorge Delgado and Esteban Inostroza, flanker Santiago Edwards, scrum-half Benjamín Videla, fly half Diego Warnken, center Clemente Armstrong, and winger Gaspar Moltedo.

Los Cóndores will begin training on Monday, June 12. The Chileans will play four warm-up matches. Chile will face Uruguay in Montevideo, host Namibia and play two matches against the Argentina XV. These matches will be played in South America between July 29 and August 26.

Chile will make their Rugby World Cup debut this year. Los Cóndores will face Japan first up and subsequently play pool matches against Samoa, England, and Argentina.

 

CHILE – 46-MAN TRAINING ROSTER

LOOSE HEAD PROP
Javier Carrasco (Selknam)
Vittorio Lastra (Selknam)
Salvador Lues (Selknam)

HOOKER
Augusto Bohme (Selknam)
Jorge Delgado (Selknam)
Simón Donoso (Selknam)
Tomás Dussaillant (Selknam)
Diego Escobar (Selknam)

TIGHT HEAD PROP
Lucas Bordigoni (Selknam)
Matías Dittus (Club Athlétique Périgueux, FR)
Ignacio González (Selknam)
Iñaki Gurruchaga (Selknam)
Esteban Inostroza (Selknam)
Marco López (Selknam)

SECOND-ROW
Javier Eissmann (Selknam)
Pablo Huete (Selknam)
Andrés Kuzmanic (Selknam)
Santiago Pedrero (Selknam)
Clemente Saavedra (Selknam)
Bruno Sáez (Selknam)
Augusto Sarmiento (Selknam)

FLANKER
Santiago Edwards (Selknam)
Raimundo Martínez (Selknam)
Thomas Orchard (Selknam)
Martín Sigren (Doncaster Knights, UK) – capt.
Ignacio Silva (Selknam)

N8
Alfonso Escobar (Selknam)
Joaquín Milesi (Selknam)

SCRUM-HALF
Lukas Carvallo (Selknam)
Nicolás Herreros (Selknam)
Marcelo Torrealba (Selknam)
Benjamín Videla (Selknam)

FLY HALF
Rodrigo Fernández (Selknam)
Diego Warnken (Selknam)

CENTER
Clemente Armstrong (Selknam)
Iñaki Ayarza (Soyaux Angoulême XV Charente, FR)
Pablo Casas (Selknam)
Matías Garafulic (Selknam)
José Ignacio Larenas (Selknam)
Domingo Saavedra (Selknam)

WING
Cristobal Game (Selknam)
Nicolás Garafulic (Selknam)
Gaspar Moltedo (Selknam)
Franco Velarde (Selknam)

FULLBACK
Francisco Urroz (Selknam)
Santiago Videla (Selknam)

 

FIXTURES – CHILE 2023

WORLD CUP WARM-UP

July 29       vs (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, UY)

August 05 vs (Venue tba)

August 12  vs (Estadio Germán Becker, Temuco)

August 26 vs (Santiago, CL)

 

RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023
September 10 vs (Toulouse, FR)

September 16 vs (Bordeaux, FR)

September 23 vs (Lille FR)

September 30 vs (Nantes, FR)