Chile insist that the only way they can improve is by playing more matches against tier one sides between Rugby World Cups.
The South Americans made history in July 2022 by qualifying for the global tournament, where they were placed in Pool D alongside Japan, Samoa, Argentina and England.
They have impressed onlookers with their vibrant style, causing problems for both the Brave Blossoms and Samoans before struggling later on as their opponents racked up the points.
Chile then took on the Red Rose on Saturday for the first time in their history and they were dispatched easily, going down 71-0.
The reality
Pablo Lemoine’s men have simply not been exposed to this level of quality before and the head coach wants World Rugby to help the tier two nations improve.
“I’m not really disappointed. That’s reality. That’s what actually happens with rugby at the moment. We have never played before at a World Cup. We are coming here and we are part of the show but we never can play the games,” he told reporters.
“We haven’t played that kind of game in the cycle between the World Cups. I hope that changes because it’s not good for the game or the supporters.”
Javier Eissmann echoed the thoughts of his boss. The second-row isn’t even advocating games against the Six Nations and Rugby Championship outfits for the time being, but instead wants them to take on Japan and the Pacific Island nations regularly.
“If we want to be a competitive team in these instances, we need more games against this sort of opposition. What we lack the most is experience [of these sort of games],” Eissmann said.
“The Super Rugby Americas is a great competition that allowed us to qualify for a Rugby World Cup, but what Chilean rugby needs now, like Uruguay, for example, is to have constant competition with higher level rivals.
“Play teams like Japan, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga; without a doubt [that] can provide that rhythm of play that we need to be competitive.”
Difference in physicality and tempo
Lemoine felt a heavy loss against England was inevitable and that the only way to alter that is by playing them on more occasions in the future.
“England are at a different level. They are competing to win the title. They are very focused and they have a clear aim. For us, we were able to win a few metres but we lost the ball too quickly and lost control of the game,” Chile’s head coach added.
“We found it hard to build. Sometimes we made the wrong decisions. We didn’t follow our game plan but this was more down to England’s quality than our mistakes.
“This is the reality of the tiers in the World Cup when you are playing against one of the top-10 teams. We play them every four years and we are facing tier one countries at the top of their form and they’re competing against themselves. It’s our reality but it’s a shame.”
READ MORE: England v Chile: Five takeaways from the Rugby World Cup clash as young guns steal the show
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