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Chile have been hit with an injury crisis ahead of the Rugby World Cup 2027 Qualifiers. Three Selknam players suffered serious injuries playing Super Rugby Americas against Los Tarucas this past weekend. The trio of Martín Sigren, Marcelo Torrealba and Tomás Baguley all suffered a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in their left knees.
The severity of the injuries is such that all three will undergo surgery. No return date has been release by Chile Rugby. However, such injuries require significant recovery periods which suggests that they will not play for Chile under Pablo Lemoine in the July Internationals.
Lemoine will assemble a roster for the July test match against Romania and Rugby World Cup 2027 Qualifiers. Los Cóndores face Brazil away on July 19 and host the reverse fixture on July 26. The winner, on aggregate, will face Uruguay or Paraguay to determine who qualifies for Australia 2007 as South America 1.
Sigren is Chile’s test captain. He led Los Cóndores at their inaugural Rugby World Cup in France in 2023. He has 38 caps. Torrealba is also an established member of Chile’s roster. He has 22 caps. Tomás Baguley is uncapped and is a rookie in Super Rugby Americas.
Chile are also without a starting center; Domingo Saavedra suffered a cruciate ligament injury in his right knee in March. The 35-time capped Chilean is out for the season and his return also remains unconfirmed. Fellow center Matías Garafulic ought to be back to full fitness for international duty.
