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Chile won the battle against Uruguay on Saturday; Los Cóndores were 21-18 winners against Uruguay in Montevideo. It meant that Chile lost the war as Uruguay won the two-match series 46-37 on aggregate. This outcome saw Uruguay qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2027 as South America 1. Chile now await the bottom team from the Pacific Nations Cup (PNC); Los Cóndores will face that team in a play-off with the winner qualifying for the World Cup.
Uruguay’s road to securing a place at the Australia hosted Rugby World Cup 2027 saw two wins over Paraguay and the aforementioned split series against Chile. Los Teros won computably against Paraguay in Asunción and Montevideo before winning against Chile in Santiago but losing the home match in Montevideo.
| MATCH REPORT |
Uruguay and Chile contested the Final of the Sudaméricano 2025. The prize of a place at Rugby World Cup 2027 saw players playing their hearts out. Los Teros ultimately won 46-37 on aggregate to join Argentina as the second team from the Americas that will compete at the World Cup in Australia in 2027.
Los Teros’ +12 advantage from game one proved to be decisive in determining the Sudaméricano 2025 winner. It certainly looked so at the midway stage of the final at the Estadio Charrúa as Uruguay scored one first half try in what was the only score of the opening 40 minutes.
Chile needed to turn around their scoreless opening half and outscore Uruguay by 20 points in the second-half. The injection of Matías Dittus meant Chlie’s dream came to be possible. The veteran prop scored two tries from close rated while Salvador Lues also went over for one.
Afgter two of the Chilean tries had been scored, veteran Manuel Diana also provided impact with Uruguay for the home side’s one second-half try. Felipe Etecheverry also landed two second-half penalties to restore Los Teros’ lead.
The match, though, went down to the wire. Uruguay were put under constant pressure inside their own half. Referee Jérémy Rozier acted by yellow carding three Uruguayans, two of which were off in the final ten minutes.
With Uruguay down to thirteen players, Los Cóndores scored their third try. It put Chile ahead by three points with six minutes left to play. Uruguay were now down 21-18 and needed to hold-out to be assured of securing the South America 1 birth at Australia 2027.
With the game clock ticking down, Felipe Arcos Pérez secured a turnover to see his country across the finish line. The Uruguayans celebrated while the Chileans were in tears.
 RUGBY WORLD CUP – AUSTRALIA 2027 |
Uruguay are the 20th of 24 teams confirmed for Rugby World Cup 2027. Australia 2027 will be Uruguay’s second World Cup in the country and sixth overall. Los Teros famously defeated Georgia in Sydney during Rugby World Cup 2003. Additional Uruguayan wins at Rugby World Cups have come against Spain, Fiji and Namibia.
Los Cóndores can still qualify but it is a harder route compared to other regions, most notably teams from Asia or Africa. The Chileans will now regroup and catch-up on videos from the Pacific Nations Cup. As South America 2, Chile take-on a PNC team in the South America vs Pacific play-off. The winner of that will qualify for the World Cup.
Chile’s opponent in the South America vs Pacific play-off will be one of Samoa, Canada or the USA. Game one will be in Salt Lake City, Utah on September 20 with the return fixture being in Santiago, Chile on September 27.
The losing team from the play-off will not be eliminated; rather, the team will join Belgium Namibia and either Brazil or Paraguay in repechage to determine the final place qualifier for Australia 2027.
| NOTES |
- Uruguay Qualified for Rugby World Cup 2027 as South America 1.
- Chile face the bottom team from the Pacific Nations Cup in a play-off. The winner of Sudamérica 2 vs Pacific 4 will qualify for Australia 2023 as the Sudamérica vs Pacific play-off winner.
- Uruguay won in Montevideo for the first time since 1971.
| SCORING |
URUGUAY (18)
TRY – F Etcheverry (24′); M Diana (65′)
CON – F Etcheverry (25′)
PEN – F Etcheverry 2 (54′, 59′)
YC – JM Alonso (46′); S Arata (70′); M Ardao (74′)
CHILE (21)
TRY – M Dittus 2 (45′, 74′); S Lues (61′)
CON – S Videla (46′, 62′, 75′)
| TEAMS |
URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Germán Kessler, 3 Reinaldo Piussi, 4 Felipe Aliaga, 5 Manuel Leindekar (capt.), 6 Santiago Civetta, 7 Lucas Bianchi, 8 Manuel Ardao, 9 Santiago Arata, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Ignacio Álvarez Akiki, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 14 Bautista Basso, 15 Juan González
Replacements: 16 Facundo Gattas, 17 Francisco Suárez, 18 Ignacio Péculo, 19 Ignacio Dotti, 20 Carlos Deus, 21 Manuel Diana, 22 Santiago Álvarez, 23 Juan Manuel Alonso
CHILE
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Raimundo Martínez, 7 Clemente Saavedra (capt.), 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Benjamín Videla, 10 Santiago Videla, 11 Iñaki Ayarza, 12 Nicolás Saab, 13 Matías Garafulic, 14 Nicolás Garafulic, 15 Cristóbal Game
| MATCH HIGHLIGHTS |
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
Referee: Jérémy Rozier (France)
Assistant Referees: Tomás Bertazza (Argentina); Federico Longobardi (Argentina)
TMO: Lucas Galan (Argentina)
