With matches in the regions and the Sevens World Cup: the Cóndores calendar thinks of France 2023

Not even a week has passed since the Cóndores qualified for the 2023 World Cup in France and the word preparation is already going through the heads of national rugby teams, coaches and managers. This is where the friendly matches, and the next tournaments, require a lot of courage to measure the improvements and progress of a project that is already part of the planetary elite. From the Federation they are determined to have a wide schedule and demanding challenges, so this 2022 will continue with rugby present at all times.

Already in August there will be three events where players can take tests to take the pulse of the situation, and where a diverse group of rugby players will be present, since both the Sub 20, as well as the Seven and the XV the selection will have matches.

In the case of the under 20s, they will have a trip to Canada to play a rugby union tournament and a Sevens camp, which will serve as an experience to test the international level, as well as a great opportunity for the best players. . optional for the adult project.

In Chile, on the other hand, there will be two instances to see the biggest team. The first is the seven-man “Challenge Series”, a tournament that will take place between August 12 and 14. and which brings together twelve teams (male and female), where the winners will be awarded a place to play the World Series specialty during 2023. A contest that has been controversial, since World Rugby announced that it would be held in Santa Laura, but only a few hours later, the refusal of Luis Baquedano, director of Unión Española

From what El Deportivo has been able to gather, currently the National Rugby Federation is in talks with Baquedano to host the event anyway , being for now the only stumbling block is the situation of the court after its final adjustments. If the deadlines are met, the Independencia site will host rugby again after the series against the United States.

But it is not only Santiago who will see international rugby, since the Federation has confirmed to this media that On August 17 and 20, the XV team will receive Brazil in the regions , to play two friendlies in what will be the team’s first appearance after qualifying for the World Cup. A decision that was born from the objective of extending the discipline to the whole country, leaving behind the centralization that the sport has experienced in recent times.

During the national month, the focus will be 100% on the 7-a-side World Cup to be held in South Africa. Los Cóndores achieved their ranking at the end of last year by finishing as one of the top two teams in the Latin American tournament held in Costa Rica.

The global event will bring together 24 teams from around the world , where Argentina, Uruguay, United States, England and New Zealand stand out. The latter are the great power of this discipline, arriving with total favoritism, since They are not only the two-time champions, but they are the winningest team in the history of the event.

Chile, for their part, will be present for the third time in the World Cup at seven, repeating what was achieved in the United States in 2018. In San Francisco, they got 17th place and now they hope to overcome this position.

The event has an initial round in which the 16 teams with the lowest ranking fight for one of the eight remaining places for the round of 16, since the countries with the best evaluation qualify immediately for this phase. This is how after this single match round, the tournament is divided into different sub-groups to define each position. In total, teams can play eight games in three days of competition. In the case of Chile, in 2018 they played four games in three days.

In the later part of the year, there will be a great chance to see Cóndores XV playing in the country again. It is an international window, where the last qualifiers for the World Cup will be defined, but where Chile will have to play friendly matches, probably against top teams.

Pablo Lemoine was clear about this situation and told Deportivo his feelings ahead of these duels. “We are going to have two tier 2s and a tier 1 or two tier 2s or a development, so we are going to have three games of an interesting level to be able to develop the team”, explained the Uruguayan strategist.

An idea that Cristián Rudloff also supports. “In any case, we will play there, with rivals who will probably qualify for the World Cup and we will work to hopefully have one of those games in Chile. added the president of the federation.

A scenario that puts the National option in the spotlight. If there is a high-level match in Chile, the most logical thing is that after the declarations of the Minister, the place of Ñuñoa will be chosen. “The ideal scenario should be the national stadium. It fulfills all the functions, it comes from the IND. Finding another space is complex, building a stadium is an expensive option “Commented a few days ago Alexandra Benado in a press conference when asked about the option of giving national rugby a new place.