Rugby World Cup, Chile historic first time on the 50th anniversary of the coup

Los Condores they did it. When Chile takes the field to face Japan today at 1pm, in the famous Ernest-Wallon stadium in Toulouse, they will celebrate their first historic match at the Rugby World Cup. Coach Lemoine’s condors, in 22nd place in the oval ranking, took sporting revenge on the United States, denying them a place in France fifty years after General Pinochet’s coup on 11 September 1973, with the support of Americans, killed, disappeared, tortured and interned thousands of opponents.

Closed circle

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The World Cup has always been a competition for a few nations, just 26 in the first ten editions and only 5 in the 9 finals played, a discussion reserved for England, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and France. Chile had the merit of ousting North America (i.e. USA and Canada, the latter always present since 1987) with a selection that has just three players (Ayarza and Dittus in France, Sigren in England) playing outside the borders. The experience is brought by coach Pablo Lemoine, 48 appearances and two World Cups as prop for Uruguay, the other nation that together with Argentina represents South America in the French World Cup. As luck would have it, Condores and Pumas were in the same group D and on September 30th they will meet in Nantes, transforming it into a corner of Latin America for a day.

Anniversary

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What a day, that of the play-off against the USA: at one point the Chileans were down 19-0, how they managed to win 31-29 (after losing the first leg 22-21) is already legend. In Chile they say “brotherhood”, not only because today Alfonso and Diego Escobar and Clemente and Domingo Saavedra will play from the start. At issue is the pride of a country which, on the eve of “the other September 11th”, that of the coup d’état that ousted the socialist president Salvador Allende, dreams of a day of celebration.