Napier-based former Chile rugby captain Francisco Jose Deformes talks about his pride in Chile reaching the Rugby World Cup. Video / Neil Reid
South American people are known for their passion towards what is important to them – and for Francisco Jose Deformes, that is all things rugby. The former Chilean captain talked to Neil Reid about his homeland qualifying for the Rugby World Cup and his new life in Hawke’s Bay
Tough as teak rugby front-rowers aren’t known for breaking down in tears – and if they do, they generally don’t admit it publicly.
But there was no stopping the tears during a mid-July Napier morning for Francisco Jose Deformes, the ex-captain of the Chilean national rugby team – who are known as Los Condores (The Condors) - after his former team made history in qualifying for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Deformes – who is the Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union and Magpies NPC scrum coach - played in almost 40 tests for the team, including many as captain.
While leading his team into action had been a source of huge pride, the moment his former test team qualified for World Rugby’s pinnacle event had been one of the proudest and most emotional days of his life.
“We had the morning off and I was watching it at home really early and I was in tears,” he said.
“I was very emotional, it was a very special day. I was so proud of being a Chilean that day. To see your country be successful in a sport you love is amazing.
“These boys truly believed that they could do it. For me, even though I wasn’t a part of it, you start to remember all your playing days when you were a kid and dreamt about going to a World Cup, dream about seeing your country play at a World Cup, all your school rugby days . . . all that comes back to your memory.”
Chile didn’t come close to qualifying for a Rugby World Cup during Deformes’ time in the national jersey.
And he said prior to the events in July – where they secured a Cup spot in France via a positive 1-point aggregate margin over America following home and away tests – he “didn’t know if it ever was going to happen”.
A lack of effort wasn’t behind the teams he played in not making it.
Former Chile captain and current Magpies NPC scrum coach Francisco Jose Deformes says he cried tears of joy when his country qualified for the Rugby World Cup. Photo / Neil Reid
Instead, rugby was very much amateur during his time, meaning players had to try to wrangle time off fulltime jobs to play a sport whose popularity was dwarfed by football-mania in Chile.
“It wasn’t easy. It was early mornings and late nights with starting work and then training. But it was the way it was so you had to do it if you wanted it,” he said.
“I was the captain and yes most of the players were really into what we were doing. But they still had to ring the bosses [to get time for rugby]. It’s not the same in New Zealand because in New Zealand the game is so important that they want to see you playing for the Magpies.
“But over there most of the bosses didn’t even know about rugby so it was a different thing.”
Chile’s rise was down to reforms brought in by Chile Rugby Federation president Cristian Rudloff, the Napier-based coach said.
The country’s top players were now professionals and Chile also had a franchise playing in South America’s Superliga Americana de Rugby; a league that also features a team from each of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay and Uruguay.
“When the president of the rugby union took the position, he had very good intentions of what to do,” Deformes said.
“They bought in a new head coach. The boys that were training with the Chile national team, he started saying: ‘You need to do this amount of training, and if you are not able to because of work or anything, you won’t be playing’.
“He sent a message that if you want to be here, you have to make sacrifices. That started paying off.”
About 10 months out from kick-off in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Chile is ranked No 21 in World Rugby’s official rankings.
His travels then took him back to Chile, as well as America and the UK as he juggled different coaching, playing and teaching roles.
He has called New Zealand home since 2017, returning to Mid Western to take up the role of head coach.
“At the time I was travelling around Asia . . . the kind of backpacking trip that everyone does when they are 21, I did when I was 36,” he laughed.
“I have a good friend from Chile who lives in Hong Kong. So for Christmas 2016 I went to Hong Kong and spent Christmas with him and then [another] mate from Chile who lives in Northland gave me a call and asked what I was going to be doing next.
“He said, ‘Why don’t you come to New Zealand? My club doesn’t have a coach’. So I grabbed my bag from Hong Kong, flew to New Zealand and started at the club.”
He was then hired by the Northland Rugby Union after initially volunteering his services to them, going on to work for them until late 2018 and holding down a variety of set-piece and strength and conditioning roles.
“Then I applied for this job here in Hawke’s Bay. That was four years ago and here I am,” he said, with a smile.
“It shows how good New Zealand is. People ask me about New Zealand and how are the opportunities and I always say to them, ‘If you are in New Zealand and you are a good man, you know what you are doing, nobody is going to stop you’.”
Deformes’ role with the Hawke’s Bay Rugby Union has two major strands.
During the off-season he works largely as a rugby development officer, working mainly with secondary schools to grow the game.
He smiles when he talks about his passion for the other side of the role, being the Magpies’ scrum coach.
“That is my area of expertise, my passion and something that I am obsessed with,” he said.
“Scrummaging is way more than getting down and doing the pushing. That is all that some people think it is. There is a lot of strategy and technique that goes into scrummaging.”
During his stint with the Magpies he said he had watched closely the commitment the players had towards retaining the Ranfurly Shield; the famous sporting trophy the team lost in heart-breaking fashion against Wellington late in the NPC season.
Deformes said he was incredibly blessed to have been given the opportunity in New Zealand and Hawke’s Bay to make a living via the sport he loved.
Francisco Jose Deformes happily now calls Hawke's Bay home - more than 9000km away from his native Chile. Photo / Neil Reid
He is very much a pathfinder for South American rugby coaches in New Zealand. And while his focus is very much on the Magpies, he said in the future he hoped to spread his wings even further.
