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The year 2018 was one of further progress for Uruguay. Both on and off of the field there were breakthroughs made as the rugby future continues to look prosperous for the eastern South American country.
The year began with a highly demanding assignment – Rugby World Cup 2019 qualifiers against Canada. Facing the North Americans both home-and-away was a breakthrough in itself but winning both fixtures was truly extraordinary.
The achievement tore up the script for Japan 2019. Despite Americas Rugby News having noted that Uruguay had a seriously strong shot when the draw was made Americas 2 was always expected to be from North America.
Uruguay’s qualification means Canada and the USA are to play three of their four pool matches on the same dates. This, however, is of no concern to Uruguay who are simply looking at how to put themselves in the best position to come away with results in Japan.
Los Teros demonstrated against Canada that they have the structure to win matches. The forwards were solid and the service from scrum-half was genuinely world class. The backs were notably improved from that of RWC 2015. They came together to produce 38-29 and 32-31 wins in Vancouver and Montevideo.
The battle of Vancouver counted towards the Americas Rugby Championship (ARC). In other matches in the tournament Uruguay achieved two wins and two losses. The 27-18 and 67-15 wins over Brazil and Chile combined with beating Canada saw a third place ARC finish.
The ARC ended on a sour note with the USA blowing away Los Teros by 61-19. The result underlined the task required of Uruguay to play six matches over straight weekends. Ultimately an exhausted playing roster was outmatched by the Eagles in Montevideo.
International competition resumed in May with the inaugural Sudamérica 6 Naciones A. All teams would play three matches each with Uruguay doing so as the Uruguay XV. The strategic move saw Uruguay’s matches being uncapped and not counting towards rankings points.
The decision would prove to be shrewd by the URU as the Uruguay lost two matches in the tournament. The competition did, nonetheless, begin well with the Uruguay XV downing Colombia 26-5 in Medellín.
The wheels came off against Chile with los Cóndores completing a 22-20 upset in Montevideo. This was compounded with the Uruguay XV facing the wrath of the Argentina XV who had been embarrassed by Brazil in Buenos Aires. The Argentina XV showed no quarter in knocking-over the Uruguay XV 64-15 in their final match.
Rather than compete as part of the June Internationals Uruguay would instead be the host nation of the Nations Cup. Competing was the Uruguay XV but this time all fixtures were against fellow ‘A’ sides. The Uruguay XV defended their title by defeating the Fiji Warriors 29-10, Emerging Italy 23-19, and the Argentina XV 26-20.
In October the Uruguay XV took to the field for one further tournament. The Americas Pacific Challenge was again played in Uruguay and saw two wins and one defeat for the hosts. A 35-21 win over Canada ‘A’ and a 33-18 win over the USA Selects had the Uruguay XV on course for the title. Ultimately they would miss out as Samoa ‘A’ defeated the Uruguay XV 38-26 in the final match.
The long list of Uruguay XV matches helped with preparations for the November Internationals. Uruguay would play against the Cardiff Blues and Ulster prior to facing Fiji, and Romania in test matches.
The fixtures against the Pro 14 sides were very much experimental. A 45-21 defeat in Cardiff was followed by a 21-5 loss in Belfast three days later. The team was stronger for the Ulster fixture but still below that which faced Canada in the ARC.
The short rest between matches was planned by the URU. With Uruguay set to face Fiji and Georgia on an identical turn-around in RWC 2019 the fixtures gave the players and staff a strong feel for what will be required in Japan.
On face value the idea had been to put everything into the opening two matches of the RWC. Yet now this may not be the case. Uruguay’s test match against Fiji in November saw the Flying Fijians in total control. The 68-7 win simply put a Tier 2 side against a Tier 1 team.
Fiji’s players were too big, too strong, and too fast for Uruguay. Reevaluating how to approach the pool stage may have been clarified with Uruguay’s final match of 2018. A 27-20 away win over Romania showed Los Teros being competitive across all areas of play. With it the pool fixture against Georgia should be the firm priority.
Off the field the URU was busy in working with local authorities to further improve the Estadio Charrúa and to give professional contracts to the leading domestic players.
Professional rugby was officially born in Uruguay in April. Signing with the URU were fifteen players, all of whom were regulars in the test side and likely members of the match-day 23 for RWC 2019.
The players trained on a full-time basis as professionals in Montevideo. Some would feature in the Sudamerica 6 Naciones A for the Uruguay XV and more in the Nations Cup. What became clearer from the project was the need for regular game time at an adequate level.
The URU found a solution together with Major League Rugby (MLR). Players were sent to the training camp in Colorado and the result was revolutionary with ten players being signed by MLR clubs for the 2019 season.
Uruguay’s MLR contingent gives Los Teros far more players based abroad than was the case leading up to RWCs 1999, 2003, and 2015.
| PLAYER | POS | CAPS | CLUB |
| Mateo Sanguinetti | LH | 55 | Houston SaberCats (USA) |
| Juan Echeverría | TH | 44 | Austin Elite (USA) |
| Reinaldo Piussi | TH | – | Oyonnax (France) |
| Rodrigo Capó Ortega | LO | 41 | Castres (France) |
| Ignacio Dotti | LO | 40 | New Orleans Gold (USA) |
| Manuel Leindekar | LO | 10 | Oyonnax (France) |
| Diego Magno | LO | 85 | Houston SaberCats (USA) |
| Franco Lamanna | FL | 42 | Darlington Mowden Park (England) |
| Alejandro Nieto | N8 | 64 | Houston SaberCats (USA) |
| Santiago Arata | SH | 32 | Houston SaberCats (USA) |
| Agustín Ormaechea | SH | 42 | Mont de Marsan (France) |
| Felipe Berchesi | FH | 31 | Dax (France) |
| Andrés Vilaseca | CE | 47 | Austin Elite (USA) |
| Leandro Leivas | WI | 73 | Toronto Arrows (Canada) |
| Gastón Mieres | FB | 64 | Toronto Arrows (Canada) |
| Rodrigo Silva | FB | 53 | Austin Elite (USA) |
At RWC 2015 just four of Uruguays 31-man roster played professional rugby abroad. The number for this year’s RWC is certain to be much higher. The current list of professionals does not include some notable names such as Germán Kessler, Mario Sagario, Juan Manuel Cat, Nicolás Freitas, and Joaquín Prada.
Facing Fiji, Georgia, Australia, and Wales is going to be extremely challenging for Los Teros. As difficult as it will be what is undeniable is that Uruguay has made massive strides to be competitive in Japan.
