Ian Campbell (15 May 1928 – 11 November 2022) was a Chilean

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

footballer, of Scottish descent. He played as a fly-half and a centre. He is considered one of the best Chilean rugby players of all time, and was inducted into the

IRB Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and othe ...

in 2012.

Early life

His father, Colin Campbell, was a Scottish-born emigrant, businessman, and amateur football player, who had played for

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

in the 1910 South American Championship.

Career

Campbell followed in the rugby footsteps of his older brother Donald Campbell, a Chile international who had been killed in action in 1944 while serving with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. The younger Campbell began playing rugby at the Saint Peter's School, in

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

. He went to play for Prince of Wales Country Club, where he was also the captain. Campbell was capped for the first time for

, on 5 September 1948 in a historical 21–3 win over

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

. In fact, he never lost to the "Teros", when he played in the Chilean side, for the next 13 years. Campbell's best results were the runners-up title at the South American Championship three times, in 1951, 1958 and 1961. This last time, Chile lost narrowly to arch-rivals

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

by 11–6, with Campbell missing five penalties. Campbell was then called "the most skilful player in South America". Campbell left the National team the same year, but still played until the 1970s. After that, he became a coach. Campbell's grandson, Santiago Fuenzalida, was a member of Chilean U-20 team for 2008 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy. He was killed in a car accident.Chile's extra motivation to secure JWRT crown
/ref> In 2012, Campbell was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame along with his brother Donald.

References

External links

Profile of Ian Campbell
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, Ian 1928 births 2022 deaths Chilean rugby union players World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Santiago, Chile Chilean people of Scottish descent Chile international rugby union players