Nicolas Garafulic’s bold goals with Chile on SVNS Series and in XVs

The Villagers Rugby Football Club, in Green Point, Cape Town, has to be one of the prettiest settings in the world of rugby. The old stands, the lush green and that big rock that is Table Mountain in the background is one of a kind.

Cape Town, the venue for the first two tournaments of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger, is one of a kind.

Chilean Nicolás Garafulic hopes to see some of the beauties of the Mother City, yet since arriving, the focus has been solely on rugby.

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“We trained there, and the view of the Table Mountain is great, although it was under clouds,” he says in conversation with RugbyPass.com, a day after arriving in Cape Town.

“I can see Table Mountain from my room, a better view than from the other side of the hotel overlooking the port.”

He previously visited South Africa with his family “many years ago; we went on safari and visited Johannesburg”, yet the much-travelled Cóndor has never played rugby in the Republic, a line in his big CV that will be added when Chile plays against Portugal and Tonga at the Athlone Sports Stadium, this weekend, in the first of two HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger tournaments in the city.

Nico Garafulic has been involved in rugby all his life. His father Juan Pablo had a serious knee injury that curtailed a rugby career that saw him represent Chile at age grade rugby, but his children – brother Matías is also an international – started very young at COBS – the Craighouse Old Boys club.

“I was also into athletics, running and winning interschool competitions of 400m and 800m as well as long jump.”

Rugby took precedence and Nico played for Chile U20 and before moving to the senior squad, he joined the sevens team. His debut: a 7-5 win against the All Blacks 7s in a warm-up tournament ahead of Rugby World Cup 7s 2017, in San José, California.

Soon after, he joined the rebirth of rugby in his country under former Uruguayan captain and coach Lemoine, who arrived in Chile to break up with old ways. Those who believed in him would soon see the spoils.

A lock or flanker in those early days – his first eight caps were in the forwards – it was Lemoine’s assistant coach Nicolás Bruzzone who suggested he move to wing. His first game in the backs was the first semifinal of the regional professional tournament in 2021.

In his words, “it was a bit of a change” but soon enough was playing at wing with the national team.

With his brother, and his father in the stands, he was on the field when Chile beat the USA Eagles to qualify to their first Rugby World Cup in 2023. Having attended England 2015 with both of them, earning the right to travel to France was huge for the Garafulic household.

Playing in France was a dream that did not come true for Nico, tearing a muscle in his leg in the week leading up to their debut against Japan. Prognosis read five weeks to recover. “I stayed on helping in whichever way I could…match analysis, cooking asados (barbecues), logistics.”

“It wasn’t easy but I tried to stay positive.”

Playing with Matías is hard to describe. “Luxury that rugby has given me. There is a connection, an energy, that is unique. Dad loves it and Mom loves rugby as well, although we still have to explain things to her,” he smiles.

This season is huge for Chilean Rugby; Los Cóndores aim to return to Rugby World Cup and Los Cóndores 7s’ goal is to earn their place in the HSBC SVNS.

To go to Australia, they have to first go through South America; failing to do that, it is a repechage against either USA, Tonga or Canada.

“Not able to play in France gave me the hunger to be in Australia. And that is the big goal. Playing in Rugby World Cup would have been the cherry on top and I have to go for a second opportunity.”

There is the matter of sevens, which after missing out on playing in France gave him a new goal late 2023.

“It wasn’t to be. It wasn’t easy to take it in, but fortunately, I had the goal of playing in the Pan American Games a few weeks later.”

He made it in time and Chile won their first silver medal, behind Argentina. He played fifteens and sevens in a very busy 2024, shining and scoring tries in both formats.

This season, he will jump from XVs to sevens as needed. He played for franchise Selknam in Super Rugby Americas’ opening weekend and then moved to sevens ahead of the flight through Sao Paulo and Jo’burg, bound for Cape Town.

“Transition is faster nowadays; it was harder when I was a loose forward. What changes is possession and the high ball, but I find that I adapt easily.”

His frame – 1,91mts, 100kgs – helps as does having a young, yet experienced squad.

Chile came painstakingly close to qualifying to the Series last year in Madrid. Seconds away, when Uruguay took away their dream with a last possession try, losing by two points. “It hurt a lot. The circumstance and the opposition,” he states.

“The goal is to play in Los Angeles and qualify for the Series. The squad is very young. I am probably the oldest at 26, there is also Diego Warnken and Ernesto Tchimino from the XVs programme.”

For that, they need to make it in a tough environment. “It will be do or die.”

“Whilst we analyze the opposition, we are focusing in what we can do and what we did right last year – keep possession, use our size.”

Goals are huge for him as a player and Chilean rugby as a whole. “As a player, there is nothing bigger than a Rugby World Cup, but qualifying to a Series, travelling the world and playing against the best is very big a well.”

The big question, if Chile is successful on both fronts, can they sustain it?

Garafulic does not hesitate. “We have the structure to be in both places.”