Chile set to become the latest Rugby World Cup debutant

Rugby World Cup will have its first debutant in 12 years when Chile take to the field to play Japan in Toulouse for their opening match on Sunday.

History suggests a winning start is unlikely as the last team to win on their Rugby World Cup debut was Uruguay back in 1999. Spain, Georgia, Portugal and Russia have all drawn a blank since.

Here we take a look at the record of the previous nine debutants, following the inaugural tournament in 1987 when participation was by invitation only.

1991 – Western Samoa

Western Samoa were practically unheard of on the global rugby stage ahead of their debut tournament meeting with Wales. But the Pacific Islanders were the talk of the entire rugby world after they came from obscurity to win their maiden tournament match 16-13 in Cardiff. "Thank goodness we weren't playing all of Samoa!" quipped many Welsh fans at the time.

Western Samoa were beaten 9-3 but certainly not disgraced against Australia in their second game before securing a place in the quarter-finals with a 35-12 win against Argentina.

An outstanding goal-kicking performance from Gavin Hastings ensured Scotland did not suffer the same fate as Wales as Western Samoa exited the competition with a 28-6 defeat in the quarter-finals.

Record: Quarter-finalists

1995 – South Africa and Ivory Coast

The return of South Africa was a significant boost to Rugby World Cup as the Springboks had long been regarded as the unofficial world’s best team. But having only returned to the test arena three years earlier and with little big-match experience behind them during their years in the international wilderness, it was always going to be an uphill task to go all the way. 

However, expertly led by coach Kitch Christie and his captain Francois Pienaar, both World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees, the Springboks grew as the tournament progressed, culminating in their epic extra-time 15-12 win in the final against the mighty All Blacks.

Record: Winners

Ivory Coast became the second African representative after qualifier wins over Tunisia, Morocco, Namibia and Zimbabwe, who’d represented the continent in the first two editions. 

Scotland gave them a rude awakening about the task ahead with an 89-0 win in their opening game before France beat them 54-18. But the Ivorians put up much more resistance in their final game against Tonga, losing 29-11.

Record: Pool

1999 – Namibia, Spain and Uruguay

Rugby World Cup 1991 was the last tournament to have multiple debutants after the number of participating teams increased from 16 to 20.

Spain and Uruguay were drawn together in Pool A and made their debuts against one another, at Galashiels in Scotland. Los Teros emerged with a 27-15 win. As predicted, both were comfortably beaten by the other Pool A protagonists, South Africa and Scotland.

Namibia, meanwhile, kicked of their Rugby World Cup adventure with a 67-18 loss to Fiji. France were also expected to put the Welwitschias to the sword but, incredibly, the scores were still tied at 10-10 after 25 minutes. To the relief of the home crowd in Bordeaux, France finally got going and went on to win 47-13. Namibia’s campaign ended in a disappointing fashion with a 72-11 defeat to Canada.

Record: Pool

2003: Georgia

Pumped up by playing at this level, Georgia fired the first shot in their opening Rugby World Cup match against England, scoring after just nine minutes through Malkhaz Urjukashvili. But it wasn’t long before Georgia were on the receiving end of an English onslaught and they went on to lose 84-6. 

A 46-9 defeat to Samoa followed but the Lelos bounced back with a determined performance against a second-string South African team. The Springboks eventually won 46-19 but the Lelos fully deserved the standing ovation they received from the Aussie Stadium crowd at the final whistle. Georgia’s first Rugby World Cup ended with a 24-12 defeat to Uruguay.

Record: Pool

2007: Portugal

Despite a 56-10 scoreline in their favour, Scotland did not have it all their own way against Portugal. Indeed, so impressive was Portugal’s effort in the first hour that their captain and number eight, Vasco Una, was named player of the match. 

The biggest cheer of the day in Saint-Étienne came in the 28th minute when Portugal winger Pedro Carvalho scored his country’s first-ever Rugby World Cup try. 

A 108-13 defeat to the All Blacks and a 31-5 loss to Italy followed before Portugal took on Romania in a game they’d no doubt targeted to win. With a 7-0 half-time lead, Os Lobos were on course to do just that but Romania recovered from a sloppy start to dominate the second half and win 14-10.

Record: Pool

2011: Russia

As the only side ranked outside of the world’s top 20 going into RWC 2011, Russia were always going to find their maiden appearance on the game’s greatest stage tough going. But while the Bears did not achieve a single victory, they delivered four committed performances and scored some memorable tries during their time in New Zealand.

USA, first up at the Yarrow Stadium in New Plymouth, was Russia’s best chance of winning a game but they came unstuck, 13-6. A 53-17 defeat to Italy followed, but at least Russia had managed to score their first Rugby World Cup try, replacement scrum-half Alexander Yanyushkin sniping over from close range in the 32nd minute.

Strong second-half displays continued to be a feature of Russia’s campaign as they bowed out with heavy defeats to Ireland (62-12) and Australia (68-22), scoring five tries across the two matches.

Record: Pool

The 2015 and 2019 editions of Rugby World Cup did not feature any new teams, so Chile will become the first debutant since Russia.

At Rugby World Cup 2023, Los Condores face England, Japan, Argentina and Samoa in Pool D.

Chile’s encounter with Argentina in Nantes on 30 September will be the first all-South American tie in Rugby World Cup history, while Chile have never played England, Japan and Samoa before.