Uruguay national rugby union team

Rugby team
country =Uruguay


imagesize = 100px
union = Unión de Rugby del Uruguay
nickname = Los Teros
emblem = Southern Lapwing
captain =
coach = flagicon|Uruguay Nicolás Inciarte / flagicon|Uruguay Fernando Silva
from =
caps =
top scorer =
pattern_la1 =
pattern_b1 = blue_black_stripe_collar
pattern_ra1 =
leftarm1 = 000000
body1 =
rightarm1 =
shorts1 = 000000
socks1 = 000000
pattern_la2 =
pattern_b2 =
pattern_ra2 =
leftarm2 = 000000
body2 = 000000
rightarm2 = 000000
shorts2 = 000000
socks2 = 000000
first = ru|CHL 21 - 3 ru-rt|URU
(1948-06-02)
bigwin = ru|PAR 3 - 93 ru-rt|URU
(1998-10-10)
bigloss = ru|RSA 134 - 3 ru-rt|URU
(2005-06-11)
World cup apps = 2
year = 1999
best = 3rd in pool 1999

Uruguay has played in the 1999 and 2003 Rugby World Cups. They have been playing international rugby since the late 1940s. Their jersey is blue and black and they are known as "Los Teros". They are governed by the Unión de Rugby del Uruguay.

History

1940s - 1960s

Uruguay made their official international debut in 1948, in a game against Chile, which Uruguay lost 21 points to three. Following their respectable debut match, their next game would be in 1951, against the more experienced Argentina team. Shortly after they were to meet Chile again, who previously defeated them in their first match. Coming off the bad loss to Argentina, Uruguay were able to turn themselves around, defeating Chile, and following it up with a win over Brazil. They thus became runners up in the first South American Rugby Championship.

Uruguay next played against Chile, who defeated them, and again two years later. In 1958, they again met Argentina, which the Pumas won. Though Uruguay later that year defeated Peru. Uruguay started off the 1960s in good form, defeating Brazil in a close game. This was followed by two fixtures against Argentina.

1970s - 1980s

The 1970s started off with a win over Paraguay in 1971, which was followed by a win and loss against Chile and a win against Brazil. They also played Argentina twice in the 1970s. However, they won all their matches except for those against Argentina, as well as losing one game against Chile and drawing another. However, the next game against Argentina, two years later in 1979, Uruguay came close to defeating the Pumas, going down by just three points, the final score being 19 to 16.

The 1980s started off with a 54 to 14 win over Paraguay, which resulted in a winning streak that was stopped by Argentina in 1983. Another short undefeated streak occurred over 1987/1989, which was broken by a 19 to 17 loss against Chile. This was followed by a sound loss to Argentina and loss to a new opponent, the United States Eagles.

Uruguay won the South American Rugby Championship in 1981, becoming the first team other than Argentina to win it. However, they consistently came second on most occasions.

1990s-present

The 1990s started off with wins against of Chile, Brazil and Paraguay. This was followed by more wins over their traditional opponents, though Uruguay still lost to Argentina, they also played Canada in a competitive 28 to 9 loss in 1995. Uruguay played some of the bigger nations such as Argentina, Canada and the United States, although the Canada and U.S. games were a lot closer than some of their previous encounters. A huge success for them was qualifying for the 1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales. They won their pool fixture against Spain, Uruguay finished third in their pool.

Uruguay came within 10 points of Argentina in 2001, and also played nations such as Italy in the same year. Uruguay won most of their matches against their traditional Americas opponents in the early 2000s. Later in 2002, Uruguay defeated Canada, winning 25 to 23. They followed this up with a 10 to nine win over the United States. They again qualified for the World Cup. They won their pool fixture against Georgia 24 to 12.

Uruguay's qualification for the 2007 World Cup started in Americas Round 3a, where they were grouped with Argentina and Chile. After losing their first match 26 points to nil to Argentina, they defeated Chile 43 to 15 in Montevideo, which saw them enter Round 4, where they faced the USA. Uruguay lost on aggregate, and moved onto the repechage round as Americas 4. They played Portugal over two legs - losing the first in Lisbon and winning the second in Montevideo. Portugal qualified on aggregate points.

World Cup record

* 1987 - Did not enter.
* 1991 - Did not enter
* 1995 - Did not qualify.
* 1999 - Qualified, one win. Third in pool. (Out of 4)
* 2003 - Qualified, one win. Fourth in pool. (Out of 5)
* 2007 - Did not qualify.

Current squad

Forwards:
* Juan Pérez
* Guillermo Storace
* Juan Alzueta
* Carlos Protasi
* Alfredo Guiria
* Rafael Alvaréz
* Ignacio Conti
* Juan Miguel Álvarez
* Carlos Arboleya
* Juan Carlos Bado
* Rodrigo Capó
* Federico Capó
* Pablo Lemoine
* Rodrigo Sánchez
* Nicolas Brignoni
* Hernán Ponte

Backs:
* Sebastián Aguirre
* Diego Aguirre (rugby player)
* Francisco Bulanti
* Joaquín De Freitas
* Juan Labat
* Juan Martín Llovet
* Juan Menchaca
* Joaquín Pastore
* Gaston Ibararu
* Matías Arocena
* Nicolas Morales
* Agustin Perez del Castillo
* Carlos Baldasarri
* Emiliano Caffera
* Juan Campomar

Notable Players

* Diego Ormaechea

See also

*Rugby union in Uruguay

External links

* [http://www.uru.org.uy Unión de Rugby del Uruguay] - Official Site
* [http://rugbydata.com/uruguay Uruguay] - Rugbydata.com