Chile’s Rugby World Cup captain made in Doncaster is now eyeing England upset

Rugby World Cup: Ribbans previews England v Chile

Chile have an unlikely finishing school to thank for hot-housing their inspirational captain Martin Sigren for this Rugby World Cup. The 27-year-old flanker broke new ground as the first Chilean to secure an overseas contract in England last season at gritty Championship club Doncaster Knights.

His impressive performances in Chile’s first  two games against Japan and Samoa – he tops the Condors’ tackle count and they have had plenty of tackling to do – show he learned fast in South Yorkshire.

“We had a bit of an injury crisis in the back row, there wasn’t much on the market in the UK and he got brought to our attention,” explained Doncaster Knights director of rugby Steve Boden.

“I had a few good Zoom conversations with him, his English was very good, he seemed very team-oriented, we watched a lot of his footage and we took a punt on him.

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“He settled in fine with a few beers and a sing-song on the bus and enjoyed himself. He really bought into what we were trying to do. He was very physical, he worked really hard and he was a really well respected member of the team.

“He exploded onto the scene for two or three games and finished the reason really well. Probably his biggest learning curve came in the middle patch with the week in, week out nature of our league which he wasn’t used to.”

It was certainly different from the 12-game Super Rugby Americas season Sigren was used to, with Selknam where 30 of Chile’s World Cup squad ply their trade.

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Sigren may well be back at Selknam shortly – Doncaster opted not to keep him on because they did not want to use their overseas-player allocation up on someone who would be away at the World Cup – but his trail-blazing move was a significant first step.

It would be no surprise if other Chileans who have caught the eye on the nation’s  World Cup debut, including stand-off Rodrigo Fernandez, follow where he has led.

After all, the world knows Chile play rugby now. Running on adrenaline, they have been living out a dream in France, with Sigren along for the ride: “I feel so alive being in the middle of all this,”  he said after the 43-10 defeat to Samoa.

Lowest-ranked of all the nations and amateurs until just two years ago, Sigren’s men have been surprisingly competitive. Now, though, comes the first game in their history against a Tier One nation. They know they cannot beat England but they are desperate to avoid the sort of humiliating defeat which disfigures a World Cup.

Sigren, with his condor tattoo on his left arm, will put his body on the line in an effort to stop that happening, according to his coach.

“Knowing Martin he is going to be very, very passionate about playing for his country,” said Boden. “He will lead from the front with work rate, physicality and passion. I think they are going to need that in abundance.”

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