Today, the Condors can take another step towards history. At 3:00 p.m. they will face the XV of Uruguay for the Qualifiers of the Rugby World Cup and a victory assures them the first place of the triangle which Brazil is also contesting , a team they already beat last Sunday with a tight 23-13 game. If so, the World Cup dream will be closer to reality.

And it is that the XV of Chile has never participated in a Rugby World Cup in its entire history. The project of the Chilean federation, led by Cóndores head coach Pablo Lemoine, aims precisely for this: rewrite the history of a discipline whose main protagonist in the country has been amateurism . At least until 2018, when the Uruguayan coach took charge of the national team and the professionalization process.

The victory against Brazil paved the way for qualification. However, a victory against Uruguay does not guarantee it either: one more step is missing. From the triangle disputed by Chile, two teams advance towards the inter-American zone, where the United States and Canada await them. Depending on their final position in the current qualifier, the Condors would face one of the North American teams in home and away brackets. Thus, from this home run, two teams obtain direct tickets for France 2023 and a third advances to the playoffs.

The chances are great for Chile, hence the importance of last Sunday’s victory. A clash they reached without prior friction as the scheduled friendly match against Colombia had to be suspended due to Covid-19. “We knew it would be difficult for that to happen, so we worked a lot on contact situations and real rugby between us. . And that first allowed us to get there physically and rugby-wise, and also made the team grow,” Pablo Lemoine told El Deportivo.

The legendary expilator of the Teros knows exploits. Lemoine qualified the Uruguayan side for a World Cup after 12 years away and hopes to repeat the same with Chile. “I believe in work, in the sacrifice of a group, in an orderly process. We have a very sacrificial group, a program that is trying to gain a foothold and a group that is willing to sacrifice. I don’t like to associate stories, each group evaluates success from where they evaluate it. I think this team has decided to write its own history and I hope that it will achieve its objectives, which are perhaps much more important than just qualifying for a World Cup. . Capable that leading a revolution in Chilean rugby will forever generate more impact than a short or medium term objective, ”he comments.

Cóndores captain Martín Sigren says mental work to control anxiety has been essential. “It’s something that we worked on to know how to manage these types of matches which are finals where obviously the head plays a very important role in the match just like the physical. It’s something we’ve seen and worked on over the past few weeks.”

The confrontation against the Teros will not be easy. Uruguay are a continental powerhouse that have already demonstrated many of their strengths in the American Super League of Rugby through Peñarol, a team that represented the eastern country in the tournament and whose players are the base of the ‘National team. Lemoine knows them well, although he says his past with his country’s team doesn’t guarantee anything. “They were able to play a top friendly match and brought in several important reinforcements. They know each other a lot because they are part of a process and some of them have been working for eight years. I know the boys very well, I know a certain number of things perfectly, but it’s a game, beyond the physical, of strategy, and we don’t know the strategies they will apply. “, he manifests.

“We have been in a high performance plan for a year, working with this group and confident that the work will bear fruit. I hope it will be this Sunday, but if not, it will be in October. And if not, later . We are totally convinced that we are doing the right thing, or at least what has not been done when it should have been done in Chile, and to realize that you are doing something and that it works makes you very happy,” adds Lemoine.

A defeat against the charrúas is not the end for Chile either. As two South American teams progress in the Inter-American zone, the Condors will have to hope that Brazil will not beat Uruguay at the end of the triangle to continue their journey towards France.

However, Sigren wants everything to remain in his hands and not depend on anyone: “We are more than aware of the opportunity before us. We came up with this awareness a year ago, in which we worked mainly on this as a driver and a source of energy. . As Pablo says, we are looking to generate change, but obviously it is impossible not to think about that dream of seeing Chile for the first time in a World Cup. It robs us of sleep and makes us wake up in the morning. Today, against Uruguay, we have one more step to get closer to that dream and that’s how we’re doing it.”