World Rugby have confirmed Chile will now play Italy rather than Samoa during the upcoming November Tests, following the South American nation’s qualification for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Chile’s Los Cóndores beat the Manu Samoa in last month’s South America/Pacific play-off to book their spot in the next Rugby World Cup to be held in Australia in two years’ time.
This has forced Samoa into next month’s Final Qualification Tournament in Dubai.
The Manu still have a chance to qualify for the tournament and continue their record of featuring in every World Cup since 1991.
Samoa will have to beat out Belgium, Namibia and the winner of the Brazil-Paraguay two-leg play-off to do so.
The final play-off for the RWC will be played as a round-robin event in the Middle East, which takes place on Saturday, November 22.
The dates clash and therefore forces Samoa to pull out of the proposed November test window with Italy.
The Manu had faced selection issues in recent campaigns due to injury, red card infringements and players being called back their contracted clubs.
‘Chile are an exciting addition to the November window’
This will also be the first time Chile have ever played Italy when they take to the field in Genoa next month, further highlighting their emergence on the Test stage.
Happy White Sunday Samoa!
