World Rugby Nations Cup – Chile vs Georgia – ARN Guide

Chile plays host to Georgia in round three of the World Rugby Nations Cup. The match is long overdue as Chile and Georgia have only played once previously back in 2004. The upcoming match at CARR in Santiago del Chile sees two undefeated teams clashing.

Chile and Georgia have not played each other in more than two decades primarily due to the geographical and institutional “ring-fencing” of the traditional international rugby calendar. As tier-two nations, both teams have historically faced severe restrictions on structural, cross-continental scheduling outside of the Rugby World Cup.

Georgia has spent the last two decades firmly locked into European schedules, dominating the annual Rugby Europe Championship, while Chile’s limited international fixtures were strictly confined to regional South American competitions against neighbors like Uruguay and Brazil. Changes began in 2016 with the Americas Rugby Championship followed by Chile’s rise in combination with high performance investments.

Georgia debuted for the Rugby World Cup in 2003 while Chile did so in 2023. Both teams qualified for Rugby World Cup 2027. For the expanded 24-team 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia, Chile and Georgia are placed in separate groups. Chile will compete in a highly challenging Pool A alongside powerhouse nations New Zealand and Australia, as well as the debuting Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Georgia is slotted into Pool B, where they face intense physical contests against reigning champions South Africa, Italy, and Romania.

Under the newly restructured format of four-team groups, both Chile and Georgia must aim for a top-two finish or rank among the four best third-place finishers across the tournament to secure a spot in the historic Round of 16 knockout stage.

FORM GUIDE

Current World Ranking: 18 (67.59 points)

Current World Ranking: 13 (73.30 points)

	IN	OUT
7	Raimundo Martínez	Clemente Saavedra
8	Alfonso Escobar	Raimundo Martínez
9	Marcelo Torealba	Lucas Berti
10	Rodrigo Fernández	Matías Garafulic
15	Matías Garafulic	Iñaki Ayarza
	IN	OUT
2	Nikoloz Sutidze	Luka Nioradze
3	Bachuki Chumbadze	Irakli Aptsiauri
4	Mikheil Babunashvili	Lado Chachanidze
6	Beka Shvangiradze	Ilia Spanderashvili
11	Giorgi Kveseladze	Alexander Todua
12	Tornike Kakhoidze	Merab Sharikadze
13	Giorgi Shvelidze	Demur Tapladze

– S Videla (45), M Dittus (41), C Saavedra (41), R Martínez (40), M Sigren (39), J Carrasco (39), J Eissmann (39), D Saavedra (39)

– K Mikautadze (106), V Lobzhanidze (102), G Kveseladze (76), T Abzhandadze (54), T Jalagonia (51), D Niniashvili (48), A Tabutsadze (43)

– M Bustamante (2), E Shea (2), S Bianchi (3), N Saab (11), B Sáez (13), E Tchimino (13)

– V Jintcharadze (1), B Chumbadze (2), G Shvelidze (3), I Iashagashvili (4), G Pertaia (5), N Sutidze (7)

+  NOTABLE ABSENTEES

– Augusto Böhme (HK), Joaquín Milesi (No. 8), Benjamín Videla (SH), Tomás Salas (FH), Clemente Armstrong (CE), Nicolás Garafulic (WI), Cristobal Game (FB).

– Guram Melikidze (TH), Grigor Kerdikoshvili (LO),Beka Gorgadze (No. 8).

• Chile Head coach Pablo Lemoine made five tactical adjustments to the starting line-up from that which faced Hong Kong. Alfonso Escobar slots in at Number 8, which pushes Raimundo Martínez to flanker, while Clemente Saavedra drops to the replacements.
• In the backs halves, Marcelo Torrealba takes over at scrum-half and Rodrigo Fernández steps into the fly-half role with Matías Garafulic moving to fullback.
• The match has been moved to CARR and will be played behind closed doors due to an adverse weather forecast.
• The only prior rugby test match between Chile and Georgia took place in 2004. Chile were 30-24 winners.
• Pierre-Henry Broncan’s has made seven changes to the Georgian team.
• The Lelos backline configuration has been reorganized, with the primary tactical shift occurring in the midfield to accommodate a brand-new center pairing of Giorgi Shvelidze and Tornike Kakhoidze. Giorgi Kveseladze shifts to the wing, while Davit Niniashvili will wear the captain’s armband.
• Half of the starting forwards are different to that from a week earlier against Samoa. This includes a new prop combination of Nikoloz Sutidze and Bachuki Chumbadze.

CHILE
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Martín Sigren (capt.), 7 Raimundo Martínez, 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Rodrigo Fernández, 11 Nicolás Saab, 12 Santiago Videla, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Manuel Bustamante, 15 Matías Garafulic

Replacements: 16 Salvador Lues, 17 Emilio Shea, 18 Matías Dittus, 19 Bruno Sáez, 20 Clemente Saavedra, 21 Sebastian Bianchi, 22 Iñaki Ayarza, 23 Ernesto Tchimino

GEORGIA
1 Giorgi Akhaladze, 2 Nikoloz Sutidze, 3 Bachuki Chumbadze, 4 Mikheil Babunashvili, 5 Giorgi Javakhia, 6 Beka Shvangiradze, 7 Luka Ivanishvili, 8 Tornike Jalagonia, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 10 Luka Matkava, 11 Giorgi Kveseladze, 12 Tornike Kakhoidze, 13 Giorgi Shvelidze, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 15 Davit Niniashvili (capt.)

Replacements: 16 Vakhtang Jintcharadze, 17 Nika Abuladze, 18 Giorgi Pertaia, 19 Kote Mikautadze, 20 Ilia Spanderashvili, 21 Ioane Iashagashvili, 22 Mikheil Alania, 23 Tedo Abzhandadze

Date: Saturday, July 18
Venue: CARR, Santiago, Chile
Kickoff: 3pm Saturday (Chile); 11pm Sunday (Georgia)
Weather Forecast: Light Rain, 10°C (50°F). Wind N 2 mph
Broadcasts: ESPN; Disney +, Rugby Pass TV

MATCH OFFICIALS

REFEREE: Jordan Way (Australia)
ASSISTANTS: Federico Longobardi (Argentina); Nerea Livoni (Argentina)
TMO: Julien Castaignede (France)