Chile Roster for Rugby World Cup 2027 Qualifiers Comes with Surprises

Chile has confirmed an extended roster of forty-one players. Head Coach Pablo Lemoine has done so with surprises. The roster to face Paraguay and Brazil in Rugby World Cup 2027 Qualifiers features fifteen uncapped players which include an Argentine and two French players.

Los Cóndores, Brazil and Paraguay are involved in a triangular series. The top two sides will advance to join Uruguay in the final round. The bottom side will not be eliminated; instead, that team will take-on team from the lower tier and could yet advance further.

The 2025 Sudamericano will be the continental final. Four teams will compete. The winning team will qualify for Rugby World Cup 2027 as South America 1. The runner-up will face the bottom team from the 2025 Pacific Nations Cup in a winner goes to to the World Cup repechage clash.

The first fixture of South America’s Rugby World Cup 2027 Qualifiers took place in August. Brazil were 77-17 winners over Paraguay. Chile face Paraguay on September 28 and Brazil on October 06. Both matches will be in Chile. Before then, Los Cóndores take-on the Argentina XV in a warm-up match in La Talca on September 14.

Lemoine’s roster is a mixture of youth and experience. On the one hand, there are nineteen players who represented Chile at Rugby World Cup 2023. On the other hand, there are call-ups for Selknam, Los Cóndores 7’s and Chile XV players. Clemente Armstrong, Andrés Kuzmanic, Nicolás Saab, and Ernesto Tchimino are examples.

Thirty-eight of the forty-one players are homegrown Chileans. The three from abroad are uncapped who qualify for Chile via a parent. Juan Cruz Reyes is from Mendoza in Argentina. He is a product of Los Tordos. The same club produced Puma scrum-half Gonzalo Bertranou. The 21-year-old Reyes plays fly half. He has regional representation honors for Cuyo at u18 and u21 levels.

Pharel Muñoz Meneses, and José Michel Contreras have been selected from France. Like Reyes, both also have a Chilean parent. Muñoz Meneses and Contreras are both second-rowers. Muñoz Meneses is 20-years-old from Grenoble RC. He is 1.94 tall and weighs 111 kg. Contreras plays for US Issoire in the Fédérale 1 and was previously at Clermont espoirs.

The roster also has some notable missing names. Italian-based Prop Vittorio Lastra is a case in point. He will likely be expect back for Los Cóndores November tor of Europe. The same is true of Montpellier’s Lucas Berti, and Vannes’ Iñaki Ayarza.

 

CHILE ROSTER – FORWARDS

HOOKER
Augusto Böhme (Nola Gold, US)
Jorge Delgado (Selknam) *
Alfonso Escobar (Racing 92, FR)

PROP
Norman Aguayo (Selknam) *
Javier Carrasco (Selknam)
Simón Donoso (Selknam) *
Baltazar Gurruchaga (Selknam) *
Iñaki Gurruchaga (Selknam)
Ignacio González (Selknam) *
Matías Dittus (Périgueux, FR)
Salvador Lues (Selknam)

Second-Row
José Michel Contreras (US Issoire, FR) *
Pharel Muñoz Meneses (Grenoble, FR) *
Santiago Pedrero (Selknam)
Javier Eissmann (Selknam)
Agustín Fernández (PWCC) *
Bruno Sáez (Charente, FR) *

FLANKER
Clemente Saavedra (Selknam)
Alfonso Escobar (Selknam)
Andrés Kuzmanic (Selknam) *
Martín Sigren (New England Free Jacks, US)

N8
Raimundo Martínez (Selknam)
Joaquín Milesi (Real Ciencias, ES)
Ernesto Tchimino (Selknam) *

 

CHILE ROSTER – BACKS

SCRUM-HALF
Juan Sebastián Bianchi (Selknam) *
Marcelo Torrealba (Selknam)
Benjamín Videla (Selknam)

FLY HALF
Rodrigo Fernández (Colorno, IT)
Juan Cruz Reyes (Los Tordos, AR) *
Tomás Salas (Selknam)
Diego Warnken (Alumni)

CENTER
Domingo Saavedra (Selknam)
Matías Garafulic (Selknam)
Gonzalo Lara (COBS)
Felipe Méndez (Selknam)  *
Nicolás Saab (Selknam) *

WING
Clemente Armstrong (Selknam)
Cristóbal Game (Selknam)
Nicolás Garafulic (Selknam)

FULLBACK
Luca Strabucchi (Selknam)
Santiago Videla (Miami Sharks, US)

* Uncapped