Rugby was first introduced into South America in the late 19th century by British immigrants, but this was mainly in
Brazil and neighbouring
Argentina. It was introduced by the British in the 19th century. It is believed that the first people who played it in Chile were the English who worked at the saltmines in
Iquique. Rugby was also developed by the English private colleges. For many years it was a sport mostly played by the upper classes in Chile. The first teams appeared in
Valparaíso and
Santiago de Chile, who later formed the Unión de Rugby de Chile. The British influence can be noticed by the fact that several of the main Chilean teams have English names. Some rugby did trickle across the border from Argentina, but it was not until the 1920s that the game really became established, around
Santiago and
Valparaíso. In South America, with the dominance of Argentina, Chile used to consider itself the best of the rest. During the 1980s, Chilean rugby participation increased by 400%, and whereas it was previously confined to the cities of
Santiago and
Valparaíso, it began to spread throughout the country.
Flight 571 and "Alive" The tragic crash of
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571, and the resulting books and films,
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors and
Alive brought Uruguayan and Chilean rugby into the global limelight. The Uruguayans were on tour, and had played several games in Argentina, and were due to play some return matches in Chile.
Alive tells the story of a
Uruguayan Rugby team (who were alumni of
Stella Maris College (Montevideo)) and their friends and family who were involved in the
airplane crash of
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 which crashed into the
Andes Mountains on October 13, 1972. It was published two years after survivors of the crash were rescued. ==National team==