Since Denver, and a few hours after playing the match against the United States for the return of the World Cup qualifiers, the leader reviews the present of necessity. He admits they urgently need a stadium.
Cristian Rudloff (August 29, 1976) is in Colorado with the Cóndores, for the match that will award a place for the 2023 World Cup today. It will be played at 3:00 p.m., in a match in which Pablo Lemoine’s team must return 21-22 in the first leg against the mighty United States. From there, he talks with La Tercera about the Chilean rugby team’s dream of playing in their first World Cup. He is enthusiastic. It also addresses the great controversy in which national rugby has been involved in recent days: the deplorable state in which the Santa Laura ground was left after the match against the Americans. He admits that it is urgent that the selection has its space. One of the options, he says, could be the Santiago 2023 legacy.
How are they for the return match against the United States?
The team is calm, looking forward to the day ahead and convinced that this minimal difference can now be on our side. The players have a huge thirst to qualify for the World Cup, to write the history of national sport.
Pablo Lemoine ends his contract at the end of the year. If you don’t qualify for the World Cup, does your situation change in any way?
It has been a hugely successful process which, more than results, has changed the cultural approach of rugby players and the sport at grassroots level. Rather than changing or thinking of different paths, we need to reinforce that no matter what. Pablo has been an example of sacrifice and change for the direct circle he impacts, and for the thousands of boys and girls who dream of wearing the Condors jersey in the future.
The Santa Laura pitch was unusable after the first leg…
We are very grateful to Unión Española. As mentioned by the manager, whose words reflect the commitment that the club has with all sports, at a time when we did not have a stadium, they, with a very high vision, provided us with Santa Laura, which is a very nice place to play in. More than an inconvenience, they should be proud of the contribution they have made and what they are doing so that other sports continue to grow and that Chile, as a country, can develop in a more global.
Was it very difficult to find a stadium to play?
We had booked the National for the duels against Scotland and the United States a long time ago, but unfortunately the delays in the works prevented it from being played there. There was also the option of San Carlos de Apoquindo, but due to renovation issues this was not possible. Unfortunately, the La Pintana stadium was too small for events of this magnitude, and in the case of Santa Laura, once they received the National Tournament match schedule, they welcomed us with open arms as they understood the situation. Obviously, no one expected a storm like the one he experienced that day.
Was it the rain to blame that day?
Exact. In fact, in the match against Scotland two days later, the University of Chile played in the same stadium and suffered no damage. It is the unique and exclusive product of the weather conditions we faced that day and nothing else. We have a spectacular record of the state in which the course has ended after all the games we have played. We played duels at Nacional, Sausalito, Elías Figueroa, Germán Becker, La Granja and CAP, and the pitch had never suffered any kind of damage.
What does rugby lack to have its own home?
Today we have a very big urgency, not only for a stadium, but also to improve the infrastructure of the High Performance Rugby Centre, our own home and where we train every day. Rugby is an inclusive, integrative sport that seeks everyone to be able to participate and we don’t need something exclusive but rather a priority for rugby to be the number one priority in this moment, where ideally it is synthetic turf. Peru has a place as well as a legacy of the 2019 Pan American Games, Colombia has one as a legacy of the international games, Argentina too, as a legacy of the U-20 World Cup. This is what we are looking for, a priority use ground for rugby or a necessary infrastructure in our high performance center, hopefully as a legacy of Santiago 2023.
Is this a real option? Because Santiago 2023 has already defined places and places.
As a good rugby player, we never give up and we continue to work, we continue to talk to the authorities, because we think we need them and because in view of everything we have accomplished, we Deserves that. Rugby deserves to have quality infrastructure, because athletes need it.
Do you think the talks will succeed?
We continue to work with everyone who believes in the project. We also know that the resources for Santiago 2023 were designated a long time ago, so it’s difficult, but we’re not going to give up until we get there, either through the Company or through other public, private or mixed funding channels, because The truth is that we urgently need a stadium where we can train or receive matches that live up to what we are advancing.
Could the CAR become this stadium?
The truth is that for us it is very important to find sufficient infrastructure investment in the CAR. It’s our home, we’re sure it can be done, but obviously not a giant stadium. We don’t want that in CAR, but we want an infrastructure for 4,000 or 5,000 people, and when we have matches of greater relevance or impact, to play in other places in Santiago or in other regions, because this is one of our objectives. .
Does the Federation have funds to do something like this?
Today, we don’t have the resources. We have received the federation in a state of significant debt and these almost three years of pandemic have not helped to reverse this financial situation. But yes, through the strategic plan that we have drawn up, the value of rugby has increased a lot and today I must be very grateful to the State which has supported us and continues to support us. The Chilean public is also following us en masse.
Support that seems to grow over time…
We were very happy to see that thousands of people were with us against Scotland and the United States, but we were convinced that it would be so, because there is a very great interest in rugby and in events of this international caliber. We are convinced that people will continue to support us because today we are ready to compete and not before. Very few sports can say that in 14 days they bring 20,000 people to a stadium. It’s rugby today.
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Source: Latercera
I’m Todderic Kirkman, a journalist and author for athletistic. I specialize in covering all news related to sports, ranging from basketball to football and everything in between. With over 10 years of experience in the industry, I have become an invaluable asset to my team. My ambition is to bring the most up-to-date information on sports topics around the world.
