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The future is bright for Uruguayan rugby. Progressive plans coming to bare in the aftermath of the World Cup are to give Uruguay a better prepared team than ever before and have a notably larger list of matches for both the senior and A side.
This new dawn is part of a widespread overhaul which is designed to see Los Teros qualify for Rugby World Cup 2019 and for sustained development to see Uruguay being classified as a Tier 2 rugby nation. The measures which are underway to achieve such goals focus on better resourcing the players and doing so from a young age.
The Argentine model championed by Daniel Hourcade of prioritizing PladAR players is to be utilized albeit in a far simpler manner. Uruguay lacks anything comparable to the number of players abroad that Argentina had prior to PladAR. Indeed in 2007 there were 30 Argentine players in both France and Italy.
Uruguay’s World Cup roster was overwhelmingly made up of local players with the exceptions being Felipe Berchesi, Alejo Corral, Gastón Mieres, Mario Sagario and Agustín Ormaechea. The URU seeks to have 8-10 players under contract to form the core of the test team and some of these players will be made offers as will domestic based players who featured in England and Wales.
The contracting of players is the first step in Uruguay’s progression towards having a professional team. In the long term the possibility of a Super Rugby franchise exists. URU President Sebastián Piñeyrúa told Ignacio Chans of Rugby News that “it is something that is far but that we have it in mind, I don’t mean it is not definable in the short term. Yes, it is an aspiration to wish for in the future.”
