Using Argentina as an example, Chile’s players have every reason to be upbeat despite their last place finish in the inaugural Americas Rugby Championship in 2016.
Overnight success stories are pretty much non-existent in international rugby, as Los Pumas discovered when it took them 18 attempts to register their first win in The Rugby Championship.
That confidence-boosting 21-17 victory over Australia in Mendoza in October 2014 confirmed to Los Pumas that all the hard work going on behind the scenes was paying dividends, and it acted as the springboard for a superb Rugby World Cup 2015 campaign which culminated in a semi-final appearance against Australia.
While a return of one win and four defeats doesn’t make for particularly good reading, there was enough in Chile's performances, in the early part of the Americas Rugby Championship especially – before the demands of playing five games on five consecutive weekends told – to suggest they can kick on and learn from the experience.
“This competition includes teams like Canada, USA and Argentina (XV) who are all on a different level to Uruguay, Brazil and Chile, so Chile needs to up their game to be able to compete with these teams,” former second-row turned coach Sergio Valdés told World Rugby TV.
“We are only just starting; this is the first step. Ideally the players that are playing this year should play again next year and the year after so as to keep improving.”
Soto – the future
Captain Benjamin Soto is adamant that Chile can only benefit from playing against largely higher-ranked opposition.
“The Americas Rugby Championship is a championship that will really help us improve our rugby. The first years will be hard due to the differences in infrastructure and professionalism. But it will considerably improve the level of our country's rugby.”
"The first years will be hard due to the differences in infrastructure and professionalism. But it will considerably improve the level of our country's rugby. "
Like Soto, Javier Richard was an ever-present in the Chilean back-row as Los Condores failed to build on their opening 25-22 victory against Brazil. They were well-beaten by Argentina XV, USA and Canada but ran Uruguay close in Santiago, losing 23-20.
Playing fixtures outside of South America presented Chile’s largely amateur squad with real-life and logistical challenges but Richard would not have it any other way.
“It's not easy for all of us, especially for those who are representing Chile," he said. "We have to deal with lots of things; many of us work, have families or are studying. There are lots of things we have to juggle with in order to play for Chile, but it's the greatest honour there is.”