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Rugby World Cup 2027 Qualifying continues on Saturday. Chile have home advantage against Paraguay in a must-win match for both teams. Los Cóndores and Los Yacarés are in a triangular tournament with Brazil. Two will assure their spots in the four team South American final in 2025 with Uruguay and one other.
| FORM GUIDE |
Current World Ranking: 21 (61.39 points)
2004-09-14 – Chile 28-0 Argentina XV (Talca, CL)
2024-07-20 – Chile 11-52 Scotland (Santiago, CL)
2024-07-13 – Chile 22-5 Belgium (Viña del Mar, CL)
2024-07-06 – Chile 22-17 Hong Kong (Talca, CL)
Current World Ranking: 41 (47.32 points)
2024-18-08 – Brazil 77-17 Paraguay (São Paulo, BR)
2024-07-21 – Paraguay 20-45 Belgium (Asunción, PY)
2024-07-13 – Paraguay 12-80 Hong Kong (Asunción, PY)
| + STARTING LINEUP CHANGES (from Chile vs Argentina XV; Brazil vs Paraguay) |
4 Santiago Pedrero replaces Bruno Sáez
5 Bruno Sáez moves from 4; replaces Javier Eissman
7 Clemente Saavedra moves from 8; replaces Alfonso Escobar
8 Ernesto Tchimino replaces Clemente Saavedra
9 Benjamín Videla replaces Lucas Berti
10 Juan Cruz Reyes replaces Tomás Salas
14 Clemente Armstrong replaces Cristóbal Game
15 Santiago Videla replaces Luca Strabucchi
1 Daniel Cabral replaces Camilo Blasco
3 Estefano Aranda replaces Boris Wenger
5 Camilo Blasco moves from 1; replaces Mariano Garcete
6 Alvaro Allo, replaces Mateo Rodríguez
8 Mateo Rodríguez replaces Gonzalo Camusio
9 Gonzalo Barreiro replaces Diego Miño
10 Joaquín Mussi replaces Sebastián Urbieta
12 Sebastián Urbieta moves from 12; replaces Rafael Bareiro
14 Gianfranco Parodi replaces Facundo Paiva
| NOTES |
- Paraguay’s 77-17 loss against Brazil overtook the 2019 result which Brazil won 66-10.
- Ramiro Amarilla leads Paraguay for the 1st time. The Argentine qualifies for Paraguay via ancestry.
- Paraguay’s regular captain Mariano Garcete is out. In an unusual change, Camilo Blasco moves from loose head prop to start in place of Garcete.
- In the forwards second-rower Bruno Sáez and N8 Ernesto Tchimino will debut for Chile. So too will Jorge Delgado as the replacement hooker and José Michel Contreras covering lock. JM Conteras is from France. e qualifies via a Chilean parent.
- Center Nicolás Saab will debut for Chile too as will fly half Juan Cruz Reyes. JC Reyes is from Mendoza, Argentina. He is a product of Los Tordos and has played for Cuyo at u18 and u21 levels. Like Contreras, Reyes has a Chilean parent.
- Chile is without several European-bass players including hooker Diego Escobar, fly half Rodrigo Fernández, and fullback Iñaki Ayarza. Escobar debuted for Racing 92 last weekend.
- Chile’s biggest win was 102–0 over Paraguay in 2003.
| PREDICTION |
Hot conditions await the teams. Chile enters the contest as red-hot favorites. Los Cóndores’ World Cup debut in 2023 combined with further player development in Super Rugby Americas has Chile well placed going into the World Cup 2027 Qualifiers. Moreover, Chile has wins over Hong Kong, Belgium and the Argentina XV while Paraguay is winless the far in 2024. Not only are Chile going to be in control of the match but a dominant victory is probably. The 2003 record win may be under threat. ARN projects a Chile victory.
| LINE-UPS |
CHILE
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Augusto Bohme, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Bruno Sáez, 6 Martín Sigren (capt.), 7 Clemente Saavedra, 8 Ernesto Tchimino, 9 Benjamín Videla, 10 Juan Cruz Reyes, 11 Nicolás Garafulic, 12 Nicolás Saab, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Clemente Armstrong, 15 Santiago Videla
Replacements: 16 Jorge Delgado, 17 Salvador Lues, 18 Matías Dittus, 19 José Miguel Contreras, 20 Raimundo Martínez, 21 Joaquín Milesi, 22 Marcelo Torrealba, 23 Tomás Salas
PARAGUAY
1 Daniel Cabral 2 Agustín Benítez, 3 Estefano Aranda, 4 Ignacio Martínez, 5 Camilo Blasco, 6 Alvaro Allo, 7 Ariel Núñez, 8, Mateo Rodríguez, 9 Gonzalo Barreiro, 10 Joaquín Mussi, 11 Juan González, 12 Sebatián Urbieta, 13 Ramiro Amarilla (capt.), 14 Gianfranco Parodi, 15 Arturo Lopez
Replacements: 16 Jordi Chavez, 17 Cesar Perez, 18 Rolando Portillo, 19 Enrique Quinteros, 20 Francisco Bareiro, 21 Rafael Bareiro, 22 Hector Gayoso, 23 Facundo Paiva
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, September 28
Kickoff: 4:00pm (CL); 2:00pm (PY)
Venue: Estadio Municipal de La Pintana, Santiago (CL)
Weather Forecast: Sunny and Hot, 25°C, wind 14 km/h
Broadcast: Disney + (Latin America)
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
Referee: Francisco González (Uruguay)
Assistant Referees: Roberto Barreiro (Uruguay); Amén Abi-Saab (Uruguay)
