Samoa and Chile clash on Saturday in the neutral venue of Salt Lake City, Utah. The match is no ordinary fixture; it is a Rugby World Cup Qualifier. The match is game one of a two match series with the winner, on aggregate, qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2027. Chile enter fresh-off an away win over Uruguay while the out-of-sorts Samoa are winless thus far in 2025.
Current World Ranking: 15 (68.90 points)
Sep, 14, 2025 – USA 29-13 Samoa (Denver, CO)
Sep 06, 2025 – Samoa 15-29 Fiji (Rotorua, NZ)
Aug 23, 2025 – Tonga 30-16 Samoa (Nuku’alofa, TO)
July 18, 2025 – Samoa 12-41 Scotland (Auckland, NZ)
Current World Ranking: 20 (64.76)
Sep 06, 2025 – Uruguay 18-21 Chile (Montevideo, UY)
Aug 30, 2025 – Chile 16-28 Uruguay (Santiago, CL)
July 26, 2025 – Chile 35-20 Brazil (Santiago, CL)
July 19, 2025 – Brazil 21-35 Chile (São Paulo, BR)
July 05, 2025 – Chile 40-16 Romania (Santiago, CL)
 |
IN | OUT |
| 2 | Pita Anae Ah-Sue | Luteru Tolai |
| 10 | Christian Leali’ifano | Rodney Iona |
| 11 | Latrell Ah Kiong | Tuna Tuitama |
| 12 | Theodore Steffany | Henry Taefu |
|
IN | OUT |
| 10 | Juan Cruz Reyes | Santiago Videla |
| 12 | Santiago Videla | Nicolás Saab |
| + NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Titi Lamositele (TH), Luteru Tolai (HK), Theo McFarland (LO), Jonathan Taumateine (SH), Jacob Umaga (FH), Duncan Paia’aua (CE), Tumua Manu (CE), UJ Seuteni (CE)
– Salvador Lues (LH), Vittorio Lastra (TH), Martín Sigren (FL), Marcelo Torrealba (SH), Rodrigo Fernández (FH), Domingo Saavedra (CE), Luca Strabucchi (FB)
- The contest will be only the second ever match between Samoa and Chile. The first was also played on a neutral territory; Samoa won the Pool D clash in Bordeaux, France at Rugby World Cup 2023.
- Samoa vs Chile is officially a Rugby World Cup 2027 qualifying series between Sudamérica 2 and Pacific 4.
- Salt Lake City, Utah hosts game one on September 20 with Viña del Mar, Chile hosting the return fixture on September 27.
- The winner, on aggregate, of Sudamérica 2 vs Pacific 4 will qualify for Australia 2027, while the losing team will join Belgium, Namibia and either Brazil or Paraguay (Sudamérica 3) in the repechage tournament in Dubai in November. The repechage tournament will determine the 24th, and last, team for RWC 2027.
- Samoa scored 1 try but conceded 4 in losing to the USA. Los Cóndores scored 3 tries and conceded 2 in their away win over Uruguay in Montevideo.
- Samoan problems have seen criticism including asking if the PNC is still worth it for Fiji and Japan?
- Samoa finished bottom of the Pacific Nations Cup (PNC) with losses against Tonga, Fiji and the USA. The winless campaign followed a loss against Scotland in July.
- Chile has wins in 2025 over Rugby World Cup 2027 qualified teams Uruguay and Romania.
- Samoa is captained by Michael Alaalatoa, a homegrown Australian and brother of Wallaby Allan Alaalatoa.
- Fly half Christian Leali’ifano is a former Wallaby. He played for Australia against Uruguay in one World Cup and for Samoa against Chile in another.
- Irishman Eoghan Cross will officiate the match in English. No member of officials are Spanish-Speakers.
This is a match of two contrasting histories, pathways, styles and administrations. On the one hand, Samoa debuted at Rugby World Cup 1991 and has been a mainstay ever since. On the other hand, Chile debuted at Rugby World Cup 2023. Strong Samoan teams have had high numbers of non-homegrown players; only 15.1% were homegrown at France 2023 while Chile’s roster was 100% homegrown. Samoa plays physical and relatively expansive rugby while Chile’s game structure continues to evolve. Chile Rugby is busy with High Performance investments while Samoa has cut resources and faces bankruptcy and corruption; indeed, Samoa had no means of touring in November 2024 nor or hosting test match rugby in 2025. The Samoans are winless this year but are ranked higher than Chile and have history on their side. Samoa are slight favorites to win in Salt Lake City.
SAMOA
1 Aki Seiuli, 2 Pita Anae Ah-Sue, 3 Michael Alaalatoa (capt.), 4 Ben Nee-Nee, 5 Michael Curry, 6 Olajuwon Noa, 7 Alamanda Motuga, 8 Iakopo Petelo-Mapu, 9 Connor Tupai, 10 Christian Leali’ifano, 11 Latrell Ah Kiong, 12 Theodore Steffany, 13 Melani Nanai, 14 Elisapeta Alofipo, 15 Lolagi Visinia
Replacements: 16 Ray Niuia, 17 Jarred Adams, 18 Bradley Amituanai, 19 Potu Leavasa, 20, Abraham Papali’i, 21 Joel Lam, 22 Henry Taefu, 23 Tomasi Alosio
CHILE
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Raimundo Martínez, 7 Clemente Saavedra (capt.), 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Benjamín Videla, 10 Juan Cruz Reyes, 11 Iñaki Ayarza, 12 Santiago Videla, 13 Matías Garafulic, 14 Nicolás Garafulic, 15 Cristóbal Game
Replacements: 16 Augusto Böhme, 17 Norman Aguayo, 18 Matías Dittus, 19 Bruno Sáez, 20 Ernesto Tchimino, 21 Lucas Berti, 22 Nicolás Saab, 23 Tomás Salas
Date: Saturday, September 20
Venue: America First Field, Salt Lake City, Utah (USA)
Kickoff: 1:35pm (Utah); 3:35pm (Chile)
Weather Forecast: Partly Cloudy; 24°C; Wind: 14 km/h
Broadcasts: Disney + (Chile), Paramount+ (USA), RugbyPass TV
Referee: Eoghan Cross (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Luke Rogan (USA); Lex Weiner (USA)
TMO: Mike Adamson (Scotland)
FPRO: Marius van der Westhuizen (South Africa)
HEAD-TO-HEAD (1): Samoa 1, Chile 0
2023-09-16 – Samoa 41-10 Chile (Bordeaux, FR)
