Chilean preparations for Rugby World Cup 2027 are well advanced. Having successfully qualified, by beating Samoa emphatically, Chile also managed to end 2025 ranked 17th in the world. This meant Chile were placed in Band 3 for the draw for Rugby World Cup 2027.
The start of a new year sees Chile now focused on preparing for the year ahead. It will be the final full-year before the World Cup. Los Cóndores will compete in the Nations Cup against other teams ranked outside the world’s top 12 as of December, 2025. Players have the opportunity of cementing places on the roster before final preparations begin in 2027.
| CÓNDORES RETIREMENTS POST RWC 2023 |
Chile Rugby took little time in beginning the new cycle following France 2023. New players emerged at Selknam and Pablo Lemoine has stronger overall depth now compared to when Chile qualified for RWC 2023.
Lemoine has done well to cover the vacancies left through player retirements. Chile is now without longtime serving hooker Tomás Dussaillant, second-rower Pablo Huete and flanker Ignacio Silva. The trio were all regulars before retirement. Backs José Ignacio Larenas and Francisco Urroz have also retired. Larenas is Chile’s first, and presently, only player to reach 50 test caps.
What does Chile’s player depth look like exactly? The following table displays Chile’s top players across three line-ups. The players included are based on roster selection and team lists under Pablo Lemoine over the past year.
| # |  TEAM 1 |
TEAM 2 |
TEAM 3 |
| 1 | Javier Carrasco | Salvador Lues | Norman Aguayo |
| 2 | Diego Escobar | Augusto Böhme | Jorge Delgado |
| 3 | Iñaki Gurruchaga | Matías Dittus | Baltazar Gurruchaga |
| 4 | Santiago Pedrero | Augusto Villanueva | José Miguel Contreras |
| 5 | Javier Eissmann | Bruno Sáez | Augusto Sarmiento |
| 6 | Martín Sigren | Raimundo Martínez | Andrés Kuzmanic |
| 7 | Clemente Saavedra | Ernesto Tchimino | Inti Ubeda |
| 8 | Alfonso Escobar | Joaquín Milesi | Santiago Valenzuela |
| 9 | Benjamín Videla | Lucas Berti | Marcelo Torrealba |
| 10 | Rodrigo Fernández | Tomás Salas | Juan Cruz Reyes |
| 11 | Nicolás Saab | Federico Kennedy* | Franco Velarde |
| 12 | Santiago Videla | Matías Garafulic | Tomás Baguley* |
| 13 | Domingo Saavedra | Clemente Armstrong Ríos | Rodrigo Araya* |
| 14 | Nicolás Garafulic | Cristóbal Game | Marco Alvano* |
| 15 | Iñaki Ayarza | Luca Strabucchi | Felipe Méndez * |
* denotes player is uncapped.
 RWC 2027 SELECTION RADAR |
Pablo Lemoine will step down as Head Coach of Los Cóndores after Australia 2027. The Uruguayan has successfully coached Chile to qualify for two Rugby World Cups and Uruguay to another before that. Rugby World Cup 2027 will also be a return for him as he played for Los Teros at Australia 2003 and was a try scorer against England.
His time in charge of Chile has not only seen an improvement in the level of the team and in world rankings, it has also seen more options in terms of players. Lemoine has moved players around a number of positions with props and hookers switching when needed, a flanker has played hooker too and the backs have seen additional examples such as centers playing wing and fullback. This is all taken into account in projecting Lemoine’s roster for Australia 2023 as displayed in the following table.
| POS | QTY | PLAYERS | STAND-BY |
| LH | 3 | Javier Carrasco, Salvador Lues, Norman Aguayo | Emilio Shea |
| HK | 3 | Diego Escobar, Augusto Böhme, Raimundo Martínez | Benjamín Moreno |
| TH | 3 | Iñaki Gurruchaga, Matías Dittus, Baltazar Gurruchaga | Vittorio Lastra |
| LO | 4 | Javier Eissmann, Santiago Pedrero, Bruno Sáez, Augusto Villanueva | José Miguel Contreras |
| FL + N8 | 5 | Martín Sigren, Clemente Saavedra, Alfonso Escobar, Joaquín Milesi, Ernesto Tchimino | Santiago Valenzuela |
| SH | 3 | Benjamín Videla, Lucas Berti, Marcelo Torrealba | Manuel Bustamante |
| FH | 3 | Rodrigo Fernández, Tomás Salas, Juan Cruz Reyes | Diego Warnken |
| CE | 5 | Santiago Videla, Domingo Saavedra, Matías Garafulic, Nicolás Saab, Clemente Armstrong Ríos | Tomás Baguley |
| WI + FB | 4 | Iñaki Ayarza, Nicolás Garafulic, Cristóbal Game, Luca Strabucchi | Felipe Méndez |
POS = Position
QTY = Quantity
| RUGBY WORLD CUP 2027 – POOL A |
NEW ZEALAND
AUSTRALIA
CHILE
HONG KONG
 CHILE’S PROJECTED RWC 2027 LINE-UP |
The expansion from 20 to 24 teams means there will be an even number of teams per pool in Australia 2027. This was not so in Australia 2003 not the following tournaments until France 2023. The monumental change means there will be four pools of five teams each. Teams will no longer be required to play on short turn-arounds such as three or four rest days.
In theory, there will be a more even distribution of rest days, and thus preparations days, per team. Lemoine will also have three pool matches rather than four. If Chile can win a match then, in addition to making history, Los Cóndores will be a contender to qualify for the round-of-16. The following team is the projected starting formation and match-day replacements assuming all players are fit. It is a 23 to face giants Australia and New Zealand.
| # | PLAYER | TEAM | POSITION | CAPS |
| 1 | Javier Carrasco | Selknam | LH | 37 |
| 2 | Diego Escobar | Racing 92 (FR) | HK | 19 |
| 3 | Iñaki Gurruchaga | Vannes (FR) | TH | 27 |
| 4 | Santiago Pedrero | Selknam | LO | 24 |
| 5 | Javier Eissmann | Agen (FR) | LO | 37 |
| 6 | Martín Sigren (capt.) | Selknam | FL | 38 |
| 7 | Clemente Saavedra | Selknam | FL | 39 |
| 8 | Raimundo Martínez | Selknam | N8 | 29 |
| 9 | Benjamín Videla | Selknam | SH | 13 |
| 10 | Rodrigo Fernández | Colorno (IT) | FH | 34 |
| 11 | Nicolás Saab | Selknam | WI/CE | 9 |
| 12 | Santiago Videla | Chicago Hounds (US) | CE/FH/FB | 43 |
| 13 | Domingo Saavedra | Selknam | CE | 37 |
| 14 | Matías Garafulic | Selknam | CE/WI | 26 |
| 15 | Iñaki Ayarza | Vannes (FR) | FB/WI | 27 |
| 16 | Augusto Böhme | Selknam | HK | 37 |
| 17 | Salvador Lues | Selknam | LH | 33 |
| 18 | Matías Dittus | Annonay (FR) | TH | 39 |
| 19 | Bruno Sáez | Selknam | LO | 11 |
| 20 | Alfonso Escobar | Selknam | FL/N8 | 35 |
| 21 | Lucas Berti | Montpellier (FR) | SH | 10 |
| 22 | Tomás Salas | Selknam | FH/FB | 10 |
| 23 | Clemente Armstrong Ríos | Selknam | CE/WI | 4 |
