Their teams will clash in the final yet Chileans and Uruguayans dine together.
After months of hard work, the Chilean and Uruguayan Under 20 national teams will battle in the final of the first IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy at the weekend.
Impressive, hard-earned wins for the two South American sides in the tournament against Romania and Georgia showed how match fit and hungry they are, and yet on the same night as their de facto semi-final successes – four days before the final – the two sets of coaches could be found sharing food and drink, and plenty of rugby stories.
After Uruguay’s 20-16 victory over Georgia in their final Pool B match, the young Teros drove up to the foot of the Andes to the plush Old Boys Club where coach Martín Mendaro prepared a barbecue for his players, some parents and the two Chilean coaches, who were also in celebratory mood after their 14-3 win against Romania in Pool A.
“We have come across them a number of times and our friendship got really strong at last year’s Under 19 tournament in Belfast,” explained Mendaro, while stoking the barbecue charcoal under generous lashings of red meat.
Chile: “It is great that we are playing against them”
Sitting close to the “parrilla” and waiting for the Uruguayan coach to serve up at the clubhouse, was Chile head coach Rodrigo Boyé. “We share the same view when it comes to what this game is all about. Being here is something that is enjoyable for us. We are good friends,” he said.
“We want to win the final and they want to win the final and that is natural,” agreed Uruguayan co-coach Bruno Grundwalt. ”But rugby is more than that and us hosting them for dinner is how we understand the game.”
Mendaro’s culinary skills proved equal to the task. Steak, onions and corn - all barbecued by his expert hands – were enjoyed by any number of players, rival coaches and parents, and plans were even made for a second ‘meet’ before the big match on Sunday.
“We’ll try to get together one more time before the final, maybe for coffee as both teams are going to be busy preparing for the final,” said Dalivor Franulic, the Chilean backs coach. “It is great that we are playing against them.”
With everybody fed and the players starting to show understandable tiredness after a long day it was time to go home, but the sincere hugs with which the Chileans left the private Uruguayan dinner showed how true this rugby friendship is.
Listen to Total Rugby's South American correspondent Frankie Deges round up the latest from Chile on this week's radio show, from Thursday.
