Ian Campbell

Who is Ian Campbell?

Ian Campbell is a Chilean former rugby union footballer, of Scottish descent. He played as a fly-half and a centre. To this day, he is still considered one of the best Chilean rugby players of all time, and was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame in 2012.

His father, Colin Campbell, was a Scottish-born emigrant, businessman and amateur football player, who had played for Chile in the 1910 South American Championship.

Ian 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, after the war. The younger Campbell began playing rugby at the Saint Peter's School, in Valparaíso. He went to play for Prince of Wales Country Club, where he was also the captain.

He was capped for the first time for Chile, in 5 August 1948 in a historical 21–3 win over Uruguay, in Buenos Aires. In fact, he never lost to the "Teros", when he played at the Chilean side, for the next 13 years. Campbell best results were the runners-up title at the South American Championship, for three times, in 1951, 1958 and 1961. This last time, Chile lost narrowly to archi-rivals Argentina by 11–6, with Campbell missing five penalties. Campbell was then called "the most skilful player in South America".