Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Rodrigo Silva has called it a day. The veteran Uruguayan fullback has decided to not continue on in the Uruguayan High Performance system. Silva has bowed out both from Peñarol in Super Rugby Americas and from Los Teros.
Silva was on Uruguay’s roster for Rugby World Cup 2023. He started in Los Teros‘ farewell match of the campaign, the loss against New Zealand in Lyon. The tournament was Silva’s third Rugby World Cup.
He played against Wales in Cardiff at Rugby World Cup 2015, Australia in Birmingham, Fiji in Milton Keynes and England in Manchester. He was also heavily involved at Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan. There he played in the historic win over Fiji in Kamaishi and he also faced Georgia in Kumagaya, Australia in Oita and Wales in Kumamoto.
His nine appearances in Rugby World Cup matches make Silva a very noteworthy player. They were spread across three Rugby World Cup tournaments. He played for Uruguay in England, Wales, Japan and France.
His career involved a total of 78 test caps. He retires as the fifth most capped Uruguayan rugby player. He will go down in history as a permanent feature in the side which put Uruguay back on the map after failures to qualify for Rugby World Cups 2007 and 2011. He steps down with Uruguayan rugby in a very healthy state.
Silva now returns to where it all began. He is saying goodbye to Uruguay’s High Performance system to trade Peñarol for Carrasco Polo. Silva was a strong performance in the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) and Super Rugby Americas for Uruguay’s professional team. Silva and Peñarol were crowned champions in 2022 and 2023. Silva started at fullback in the 2023 final against Los Dogos.
Silva was more than just a fullback. He played right wing in the 2022 final in which Peñarol defeated Selknam for their first of two titles. Silva has caps across the back-three positions as well as at fly half. He also spent time playing scrum-half for former Major League Rugby (MLR) side Austin.
