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Chile Rugby have named Pablo Lemoine as the new Head Coach of Los Cóndores. The Uruguayan takes over from New Zealander Mark Cross. As of today, August 31 Lemoine is the Head Coach of Chile’s national men’s team with Cross now in charge of the Chile XV.
From Montevideo, Uruguay Lemoine is among the best known rugby names from his country. As a player he earned 50 caps for Los Teros, appearing in RWCs 1999 and 2003.
His test match playing career spanned 16 years with him debuting against Spain in 1995 and playing his final test against Romania in 2010. Less than two year after playing his final set match Lemoine was the Head Coach of Uruguay.
The naming of Lemoine for the position in 2012 came together with a stated objective of seeing Uruguay qualify for RWC 2015. It was no minor goal as Uruguay had failed to qualify for both RWC 2007 and RWC 2011.
Ultimately Uruguay would succeed, defeating Russia in the Repechage Final to qualify as the 20th, and final, participant for RWC 2015. With it Uruguay joined Australia, England, Fiji, and Wales in the Pool of Death.
Lemoine’s Uruguay knew they had their backs against the ball but they were determined to give it their all and to compete better than had been the case against England, Samoa, and South Africa in RWC 2003. They more than achieved this and Lemoine did not hold back his happiness when Los Teros crossed for tries in Milton Keynes.
What Lemoine achieved with Uruguay was quite extraordinary. The path to progress was not complicated though – Lemoine introduced a High Performance Center at Montevideo’s Estadio Charrua.
Now he takes up the position as Head Coach of Chile, doing so after having had the same position in Germany. He told Chile Rugby what is ahead of him in his new role:
“With everything that has come since the RWC Chile has to be prepared. My mission is to convey what I experienced with Uruguay: when things are clear and if we are honest with players, clubs, associations then everything can be done”.
Chile’s path to progression is very much connected to a High Performance system. Lemoine knows this not only based on his background with Los Teros but also as a player himself.
Having started playing at the age of 11 for MVCC, Lemoine went on to play for Uruguay at u19 World Cups in 1993 and 1994, captaining the side in the latter campaign. At adult level he played two years for Bristol in England and evens years for Stade Français in France.
