Chile Rugby Roster Named to face Portugal, Spain and Zimbabwe

The Pablo Lemoine coached Los Cóndores are ready for upcoming test matches against Portugal, Spain and Zimbabwe. Chile will tour Europe as part of the World Rugby Nations Cup. The three test matches will be against teams that, like Chile, will all compete at Rugby World Cup 2027.

The tour is to be the final opportunity for an extensive intercontinental tour with test caps for Lemoine’s team. It is the second half of the World Rugby Nations Cup tournament. The first half was played in July with Chile defeating Romania and Hong Kong but losing to Georgia. All matches were home games for the South Americans.

The upcoming November tour matches will see Los Cóndores facing Portugal in Lisbon, Spain in Madrid and Zimbabwe at the neutral location of Angolulême in France. Chile’s roster contains 31 players. They are 17 forwards and 14 backs.

The primary new forward additions to Los Cóndores are Pharel Muñoz, Vittorio Lastra, and Ignacio Valdés. All three of these players currently develop their professional careers within the French rugby system. They are all forwards.

Pharel Muñoz is a 1.95-meter second-row lock playing for Sporting Club Royannais in France’s Fédérale 1 division, who previously trained with the youth categories at FC Grenoble.

Vittorio Lastra is an experienced 30-year-old prop currently representing Mont de Marsan in France’s Nationale division, having previously been part of Chile’s historic first World Cup squad in 2023.

Rounding out the trio is 18-year-old Ignacio Valdés, a second-row lock from the Bayonne youth system who earned his senior squad call-up following his recent performance with Chile’s U20 team. His father is the legendary Chilean Sergio Valdez.

Sergio Valdés was a prominent second-rower who built a long and highly successful professional career in France. He played for several top French clubs—including Racing 92, Auch, Pau, and Agen—and famously became the first Chilean to ever play in the Top 14, the highest tier of French professional rugby.

The most notable absences in the front row are Javier Carrasco, Salvador Lues, and Emilio Shea. Both Carrasco and Lues were integral components of Chile’s historic 2023 Rugby World Cup squad in France. Carrasco, a highly dependable loosehead prop with 40 caps for Los Cóndores, and has been a cornerstone for Selknam. Similarly, Lues has a strong international pedigree. Their exclusion, alongside the longterm injury to fellow prop Emilio Shea, has opened the door for Vittorio Lastra.

The most impactful omission from the back row is national team captain Martín Sigren. While Sigren successfully returned to action earlier this year during the July test window after recovering from a long-term knee injury, his exclusion from this European tour leaves a massive leadership void in the pack. In his absence, veteran back-rowers like Clemente Saavedra and Alfonso Escobar will be heavily relied upon to step up into primary leadership roles.

Scrum-half Juan Sebastián Bianchi is absent. It comes in a position of depth for Chile. Lucas Berti, Marcelo Torrealba and Benjamín Videla are all on the roster for the November this tour. Other backs notably missing include Tomás Salas, Cristóbal Game, and Luca Strabucchi. Salas, an incredibly accurate tactical kicker who started at fly-half against Scotland, recently recovered from a long injury layoff to feature for Chile XV.

ROSTER – LOOSE HEAD PROP

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
LH	Norman Aguayo	24	Selknam	6
LH	Vittorio Lastra	30	Mont de Marsan (FR)	24

ROSTER – HOOKER

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
HK	Augusto Böhme	29	Selknam	37
HK	Diego Escobar	26	Racing 92	22
HK	Benjamín Moreno	21	DOBS	–

ROSTER – TIGHT HEAD PROP

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
TH	Matías Dittus	33	Annonay (FR)	42
TH	Iñaki Gurruchaga	31	Selknam	31

ROSTER – SECOND-ROW

POS	PLAYER	AGE	CLUB	CAPS
LO	Javier Eissmann	29	Agen (FR)	40
LO	Pharel Muñoz	22	Sporting Club Royannais (FR)	–
LO	Santiago Pedrero	27	Selknam	27
LO	Bruno Sáez	23	Selknam	13
LO	Ignacio Valdés	18	Bayonne Espoirs (FR)	–