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

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

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 other ...

in 2012.

Early life

His father,

Colin Campbell Colin may refer to: * Colin (given name) * Colin (surname) * ''Colin'' (film), a 2008 Cannes film festival zombie movie * Colin (horse) (1905–1932), thoroughbred racehorse * Colin (humpback whale), a humpback whale calf abandoned north of Sydney, ...

, 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 the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

in the 1910 South American Championship.

Career

Campbell followed in the rugby footsteps of his older brother

Donald Campbell Donald is a masculine given name derived from the Gaelic name ''Dòmhnall''.. This comes from the Proto-Celtic *''Dumno-ualos'' ("world-ruler" or "world-wielder"). The final -''d'' in ''Donald'' is partly derived from a misinterpretation of the ...

, 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 United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

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

Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...

. He went to play for

Prince of Wales Country Club Prince of Wales Country Club is a Chilean sports and recreation club founded in 1925, taking its name from the then Prince of Wales, later to be King Edward VIII who opened the club. Originally it was located in Tobalaba and is now situated in Fr ...

, 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 ( es, República Oriental del 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 ...

, in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. 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 ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

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 The inaugural IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy was hosted by Chile in April 2008. The eight team competition for National men U'20 sides is the second tier of the IRB Junior World Championship, which replaced the U'19 & U'21 World Championships. Po ...

. 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
1928 births 2022 deaths Chilean rugby union players World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres Sportspeople from Santiago Chilean people of Scottish descent Chile international rugby union players {{Chile-rugbyunion-bio-stub