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Uruguay is struggling to secure World Cup warm-up fixtures. At present Uruguay does not have any games scheduled prior to Rugby World Cup 2023. Warm-up matches are to take place in July and August. Uruguay’s opening RWC 2023 match is on September 14 against France in Lille.
Los Teros will compete in Pool A of the World Cup against France, Italy, Namibia and New Zealand. The variety of opponents will require careful planning. The Unión de Rugby del Uruguay (URU) has been seeking to secure appropriate warm-up matches at the national rugby stadium, the Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo.
Uruguay’s intention is to play home matches. The next option is to play matches elsewhere in the region. America Rugby News can confirm that the URU had been in negotiations with teams from the Pacific and from Europe. No matches have been confirmed with teams declining offers to play in Montevideo but some offering away matches for Los Teros.
The Pacific option appears to have concluded. Uruguay will not be returning to Japan nor playing host to the Asians. Uruguay played two test matches in Japan in 2022. Japan’s RWC 2023 warm-up matches will be five home matches. Played from July 08 to August 05, Japan will host the All Blacks XV twice before playing test matches against Samoa, Tonga and Fiji.
Japan may add matches in Europe after the August 05 test match against Fiji. The Flying Fijians already have. They face France on August 19 and England on August 26. In other words, neither Japan nor Fiji will play RWC warm-up matches against Los Teros.
Samoa and Tonga play their respective test matches in Japan on July 22 and 29. Neither country presently has further matches scheduled. They will not be hosting Uruguay and the prospects of playing in Uruguay are slim.
As was the case prior to RWC 2019, Uruguay could host a Nations Cup. Uruguay faced Russia, Namibia and the Argentina XV. Such a possibility is plausible with opposition teams potentially including three RWC 2023 competitors from Chile, Namibia, Georgia, Portugal, and Romania.
The issue with the above is that Uruguay will miss out on facing Tier 1 teams. Uruguay’s only Tier 1 opponent since RWC 2019 was Italy in November 2021. Uruguay’s home match against Wales in 2021 was cancelled.
It is very likely that Uruguay will have a match against the Argentina XV. This would be an uncapped fixture and the chances of facing Los Pumas are low. Argentina have room between their July 29 match against South Africa in Buenos Aires and August 26 against Spain in Madrid. However, of note is that the URU has been reluctant to host Los Pumas in part for fear of a heavy home defeat against their neighbors.
The URU’s intention is not to travel for warm-up matches but ARN understands that they are happy for Los Teros to play in other countries in the continent such as Argentina, Brazil or Chile.
There are further options for Uruguay. Los Teros could host a Nations Cup in July and play one or two away warm-up matches while on their way to France in August. This would be comparable to 2015 when Uruguay had warm-up matches in Japan and Spain before arriving in the UK for the World Cup.
August home or away matches could be against some or all of the three non-RWC 2023 teams: Spain, Canada and / or the USA. All three are short of matches and would gladly face a RWC team, let alone one who defeated Fiji at the previous World Cup. Such matches would be good preparation for facing Namibia; however, here is where the options are limited as Uruguay face three Tier 1 sides at the World Cup.
