Uruguay
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname(s)Los Teros
EmblemSouthern lapwing
UnionUruguayan Rugby Union
Head coachEsteban Meneses
CaptainAndrés Vilaseca
Most capsDiego Magno (104)
Top scorerFelipe Berchesi (369)
Top try scorerDiego Ormaechea (33)
Home stadiumEstadio Charrúa
First colours
Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current17 (as of 11 September 2023)
Highest14 (2005)
Lowest23 (2012, 2013, 2017)
First international
 Chile 21–3 Uruguay 
(Buenos Aires, Argentina; 5 August 1948)
Biggest win
 Paraguay 6–102 Uruguay 
(Puerto Iguazú, Argentina; 14 May 2011)
Biggest defeat
 South Africa 134–3 Uruguay 
(East London, South Africa; 11 June 2005)
World Cup
Appearances5 (First in 1999)
Best resultPool stage (1999, 2003, 2015, 2019)
Websiteuru.org.uy/teros-xv-3

The Uruguay national rugby union team (Spanish: Selección de rugby de Uruguay), nicknamed Los Teros, represents the Uruguayan Rugby Union in men's international rugby union . One of the older test sides in the world, Uruguay has qualified five times for the Rugby World Cup, in 1999, 2003, 2015, 2019 and most recently 2023. As of 10 July 2023 they are ranked 17th in the world, and are ranked 2nd in the Americas region, behind rivals Argentina.

Uruguay has consistently been one of the better fringe international sides in rugby union, having consistently beaten Tier 2/3 competition from across the globe. Uruguay won the South American Rugby Championship in 1981, the only time (pre-2014) that a team other than Argentina won the tournament. They came second on 19 occasions and third the remaining 9. As of 2012, Uruguay has been classified as a Tier 2 nation, which allows them to receive more funding from World Rugby.

Their home stadium is Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo and holds up to 14,000 people. Estadio Domingo Burgueño has also been used for some fixtures in the Americas Rugby Championship.

The nickname Los Teros refers to the national bird of Uruguay, the southern lapwing.

History

1900s–60s

Uruguay v. Chile in the 1951 South American championship held in Buenos Aires
The southern lapwing, commonly seen in uruguayan sport fields, became the emblem of the Uruguayan National Rugby Team.

There are reports of rugby football being played in Uruguay as early as 1865.[1] The game was introduced by British immigrants, with the game being more popularized by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, who were of Irish origin. Because of this, Uruguay has one of the oldest rugby cultures outside the British Isles, and one of the most established in the South America.

Uruguay made their official international debut in 1948, in a game against Chile, which Uruguay lost 21–3. Following their debut match, they returned to competition in the Pan American Games, first against the more experienced Argentina, resulting in a 0–62 loss. Uruguay then faced Chile for the second time, defeating them by 8–3. The final match of the competition was a 17–10 win over Brazil. Uruguay thus became runners up in the first unofficial South American Rugby Championship.

Uruguay, after a four years hiatus, played Chile in 1956, who defeated them by 6–3. In 1958, they played for the first official South American Rugby Championship, in a pool of three countries. They first played Chile, this time losing by 9–34. The Teros met again Argentina, having another loss, this time by 3–50. Uruguay managed to defeat Peru (10–6) in the last game.

In 1960, Uruguay faced for the first time one of the powers of the Northern Hemisphere rugby, France XV, losing by 0–61 in Montevideo during a South American tour. Uruguay after this match entered their second South American Rugby Championship. They first won against Brazil in a close game (11–8), then losing to Chile (5–28) and Argentina (3–36) in the closest result to then between both countries.

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. In 1985, France visited Montevideo for a second time to play the Teros, beating the locals 34–6. 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.

1990s

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 28–9 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.

2000–present

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 25–23. They followed this up with a 10–9 win over the United States. They again qualified for the 2003 World Cup. They won their pool fixture against Georgia 24–12.

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 26–0 to Argentina, they defeated Chile 43–15 in Montevideo, which saw them enter Round 4. In round 4 they faced the United States, and Uruguay lost on aggregate, and moved onto the repechage round as Americas 4. Uruguay played Portugal in the repechage over two legs — losing the first in Lisbon and winning the second in Montevideo — but lost on aggregate points and failed to qualify.

Uruguay lost the 2011 Rugby World Cup qualification. Uruguay had won the 2009 South American Rugby Championship "A" by defeating Brazil and Chile at the Estadio Charrúa. Uruguay then lost to the United States 22–27 and 6–27. In the repechage, Uruguay defeated Kazakhstan 44–7, but in the battle for the 20th and final spot at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Uruguay tied Romania at home 21–21 and lost 12–32 in Bucharest.

2015 Rugby World Cup repechage qualifier match between Uruguay and Russia

During the 2015 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Uruguay won the 2013 South American Rugby Championship "A", getting wins at the Estadio Charrúa against Brazil (58–7) and Chile (23–9). In March 2014, Uruguay faced the United States in a NACRA-CONSUR playoff for the last Americas qualification spot. Uruguay tied the home leg 27–27, but lost the away leg 32–13. Uruguay then moved to the repechage, where it defeated Hong Kong 28–3 at the Estadio Charrúa, to face Russia for the 20th and final spot at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Uruguay qualified for the 2015 Rugby World Cup by defeating Russia by an aggregate score of 57–49 in the two-game series, winning the second game at home 36–27 in front of 14,000 fans at the Charrua Stadium.[2]

Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo, home of Los Teros.

Uruguay claimed three wins and two losses at the 2016 Americas Rugby Championship, but ranked fourth out of six because they only scored two bonus points. In 2017 the team also claimed three wins and two losses, finishing third. On 3 February 2018, Los Teros qualified for 2019 Rugby World Cup as Americas 2 after beating Canada in the home-away leg, and started it with a surprising 30-27 win over Fiji on 25 September: it was Uruguay’s first World Cup win in 16 years.[3][4]

On 30 October 2019, nightclub in southwestern Japan filed criminal complaint against players from the Uruguay team for 2019 Rugby World Cup for allegedly damaging property.[5]

In 2021, Uruguay qualified for the 2023 Rugby World Cup as Americas 1, after a 1-1 series draw with the United States They lost the first game 19-16, but won the second game 34-15. They won on aggregate points (50-34) and are in Pool A with New Zealand, France, Italy and Namibia.

Record

Overall record

Top 20 as of 25 December 2023[6]
RankChange*TeamPoints
1 Steady South Africa094.54
2 Steady Ireland090.57
3 Steady New Zealand089.80
4 Steady France087.81
5 Steady England085.46
6 Steady Scotland083.43
7 Steady Argentina080.68
8 Steady Wales080.64
9 Steady Australia077.48
10 Steady Fiji076.38
11 Steady Italy075.93
12 Steady Japan074.27
13 Steady Portugal072.78
14 Steady Georgia072.68
15 Steady Samoa072.23
16 Steady Tonga071.57
17 Steady United States067.94
18 Steady Uruguay067.39
19 Steady Romania063.28
20 Steady Spain062.86
21 Steady Canada060.90
22 Steady Namibia060.56
23 Steady Chile060.49
24 Steady Hong Kong059.80
25 Steady Russia058.06
26 Steady  Switzerland056.29
27 Steady Netherlands055.84
28 Steady Brazil055.37
29 Steady Belgium054.58
30 Steady South Korea053.46
* Change from the previous week
Uruguay's historical rankings
See or edit source data.
Source: World Rugby[6]
Graph updated to 25 December 2023

Uruguay has lost all official matches versus Argentina, but has a winning record against their other South American rivals such as Chile, Paraguay and Brazil. They played Chile for the fiftieth time during the 2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches, winning 26–25.[7][8]

Regarding tier 2 teams, Uruguay has winning records against Namibia, Spain, Portugal and Russia, and losing records with United States, Canada, Japan, Georgia, Romania and Fiji.

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Uruguay national XV at test level up until 5 October 2023.[9]

Opponent Played Won Lost Drawn Win % For Aga Diff
 Argentina4204200.00%4341744−1310
 Argentina XV1559133.33%329530−201
 Argentina Jaguars20200.00%40101−61
 Australia20200.00%13110−97
 Belgium1100100.00%3913+26
 Brazil31283090.32%1060328+732
 Canada1358033.33%232370−138
 Chile503910178%1229753+476
Ireland Emerging Ireland30300.00%43126−83
 England20200.00%16171−155
 Fiji413025.00%76181−105
 Fiji XV10100.00%324−21
 Fiji Warriors312033.33%7382−9
 France10100.00%1227−15
 France XV30300.00%16136−120
 Georgia725028.57%104175−71
 Germany10100.00%2124−3
 Hong Kong1100100.00%283+25
 Italy50500.00%52147−95
 Emerging Italy422050.00%9089+1
 Italy A10100%1331–18
 Japan514020.00%54165−111
 Kazakhstan1100100.00%447+37
 Morocco211050.00%3624+12
 Namibia651083.33%204156+48
 New Zealand10100.00%073−73
 New Zealand XV10100.00%364−61
 Paraguay26250196.15%1322238+1084
 Peru1100100.00%106+4
 Portugal1073070.00%234142+92
 Romania13210115.38%188354−166
 Russia954055.55%231215+16
 Samoa10100.00%1360−47
 Scotland10100.00%1243−31
 Scotland A10100.00%327−24
 South Africa30300.00%12245−233
South Africa South Africa President's XV10100.00%937−28
 Spain1376053.85%250198+52
 United States20415120%361612−251
 Venezuela1100100.00%928+84
 Wales20200.00%2289−67
Total310145160546.77%70237928−905

World Cup record

Rugby World Cup Qualification
Year Round Pld W D L PF PA Squad Pos Pld W D L PF PA
New Zealand Australia 1987 Not invited Not invited
England France Ireland Scotland Wales 1991 did not enter did not enter
South Africa 1995 Did not qualify 2nd 3 2 0 1 91 28
Wales 1999 Pool Stage 3 1 0 2 42 97 Squad 4th 9 5 0 4 209 188
Australia 2003 Pool Stage 4 1 0 3 56 255 Squad 2nd 6 3 0 3 115 144
France 2007 Did not qualify 2nd 6 2 0 4 86 140
New Zealand 2011 Did not qualify 1st 6 2 1 3 178 126
England 2015 Pool Stage 4 0 0 4 30 226 Squad 1st 9 6 1 2 260 168
Japan 2019 Pool Stage 4 1 0 3 60 140 Squad 1st 8 8 0 0 318 160
France 2023 Pool Stage 4 1 0 3 65 164 Squad 1st 4 3 0 1 101 57
Total Pool Stage 19 4 0 15 253 882 51 31 2 18 1358 1011
  Champions    Runners-up    Third place    Fourth place Home venue

Current squad

On 21 August, Uruguay confirmed their 33-play squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.[10]

Head Coach: Argentina Esteban Meneses

  • Caps Updated: 21 August
Player Position Date of birth (age) Caps Club/province
Facundo Gattas Hooker (1995-07-02) 2 July 1995 39 United States Old Glory DC
Germán Kessler Hooker (1994-07-01) 1 July 1994 62 France Angoulême
Guillermo Pujadas Hooker (1997-02-06) 6 February 1997 28 United States Chicago Hounds
Diego Arbelo Prop (1994-08-19) 19 August 1994 18 Italy Colorno
Matías Benítez Prop (1988-05-16) 16 May 1988 45 Uruguay Peñarol
Ignacio Péculo Prop (1999-02-22) 22 February 1999 13 United States Chicago Hounds
Reinaldo Piussi Prop (1999-05-18) 18 May 1999 4 United States Miami Sharks
Mateo Sanguinetti Prop (1992-07-26) 26 July 1992 80 Uruguay Peñarol
Felipe Aliaga Lock (1999-09-14) 14 September 1999 5 Uruguay Peñarol
Ignacio Dotti Lock (1994-08-18) 18 August 1994 59 United States Old Glory DC
Manuel Leindekar Lock (1997-04-23) 23 April 1997 28 France Bayonne
Manuel Ardao Back row (1998-09-09) 9 September 1998 23 United States Miami Sharks
Lucas Bianchi Back row (2001-03-26) 26 March 2001 10 Uruguay Peñarol
Santiago Civetta Back row (1998-02-28) 28 February 1998 26 Uruguay Peñarol
Carlos Deus Back row (2001-07-05) 5 July 2001 3 Uruguay Peñarol
Manuel Diana Back row (1996-03-07) 7 March 1996 38 Uruguay Peñarol
Eric Dosantos Back row (1995-02-25) 25 February 1995 16 Uruguay Peñarol
Juan Manuel Rodríguez Back row (1996-12-15) 15 December 1996 3 Uruguay Peñarol
Santiago Álvarez Scrum-half (2001-12-24) 24 December 2001 7 Uruguay Peñarol
Santiago Arata Scrum-half (1996-09-02) 2 September 1996 45 France Castres Olympique
Agustín Ormaechea Scrum-half (1991-03-08) 8 March 1991 56 France Nice
Felipe Berchesi Fly-half (1991-04-12) 12 April 1991 45 France Dax
Felipe Etcheverry Fly-half (1996-06-23) 23 June 1996 20 United States Miami Sharks
Felipe Arcos Pérez Centre (2001-05-17) 17 May 2001 9 Uruguay Old Boys
Nicolás Freitas Centre (1993-07-03) 3 July 1993 50 France Vannes
Tomás Inciarte Centre (1996-10-22) 22 October 1996 32 United States Miami Sharks
Andrés Vilaseca (c) Centre (1991-05-08) 8 May 1991 75 France Vannes
Juan Manuel Alonso Wing (2001-09-19) 19 September 2001 8 Uruguay Peñarol
Baltazar Amaya Wing (1999-05-26) 26 May 1999 8 Uruguay Peñarol
Bautista Basso Wing (2001-01-18) 18 January 2001 4 Uruguay Old Boys
Ignacio Facciolo Wing (1998-12-28) 28 December 1998 1 Uruguay CTM Rugby
Gastón Mieres Fullback (1989-10-05) 5 October 1989 82 Uruguay Peñarol
Rodrigo Silva Fullback (1992-11-02) 2 November 1992 77 Uruguay Peñarol

Individual all-time records

Most matches

# Player Pos Tenure Mat Start Sub Pts Tries Won Lost Draw %
1Diego MagnoFlanker2008-104644060124953250.00
2Gaston MieresFullback2010-83721185174437256.57
Mateo SanguinettiProp2014-8369142044340054.28
4Andres VilasecaCenter2013-79763100164335158.33
5Rodrigo SilvaFullback2012-78717114194137056.71
6Leandro LeivasWing2008-2019766313120243242243.42
Mario SagarioProp2006-2019765323513242243.42
8Juan Manuel GaminaraFlanker2010-2019716653573435249.29
Alejandro NietoNumber 82012-2019716293574030157.04
10Carlos ArboleyaHooker2004-20186739282552937144.02
Rodrigo SanchezProp1996-2009675892552641038.80

Last updated: New Zealand vs Uruguay, 5 October 2023. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most tries

# Player Pos Span Mat Start Sub Pts Tries
1Diego OrmaecheaNumber 81979-19995451315133
2Leandro LeivasWing2008-201976631312024
3Rodrigo SilvaFullback2012-7877711419
4German KesslerHooker2015-6448168517
Gaston MieresFullback2010-8372118517
6Andrés VilasecaCenter2013-7976310016
7Santiago ArataScrum-half2016-4933167515
8Federico SciarraScrum-half1990-19994038227214
9Alfonso CardosoCentre1995-2003383536713
10Diego MagnoFlanker2008-10464406012

Last updated: New Zealand vs Uruguay, 5 October 2023. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most points

# Player Pos Span Mat Pts Tries Conv Pens Drop
1Felipe BerchesiFly-half2011-48374256831
2Federico SciarraScrum-half1990-1999402721436441
3Juan MenchacaFullback1998-200739254628515
4Jerónimo EtcheverryFly-half2008-201645213837303
5Mathias ArocenaFly-half2005-201436204825371
6Federico FavaroWing2013-2021372001138230
7Marcelo NicolaFly-half1989-1995221781036200
8Agustín OrmaecheaScrum-half2011-59159822250
9Jorge ZerbinoFlanker1973-198527157819290
10Diego OrmaecheaNumber 81979-19995415133000

Last updated: New Zealand vs Uruguay, 5 October 2023. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most matches as captain

# Player Pos Span Mat Won Lost Draw % Pts Tries
1Juan Manuel GaminaraFlanker2016-2019402713067.50204
2Diego OrmaecheaNumber 81985-1999362016055.5510923
3Andres VilasecaCenter2019-present23158066.00153
4Jorge ZerbinoFlanker1975–198520126265.001207
5Diego AguirreFly-half2002-200316610037.50211

Last updated: New Zealand vs Uruguay, 5 October 2023. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Notable players

Past Coaches

Since the 1999 Rugby World Cup

Years Coach
1994–2000Uruguay Daniel Herrera
2001–2003Uruguay Diego Ormaechea
2004–2005Uruguay Sebastián Piñeyrúa
2006–2007Uruguay Nicolás Inciarte & Uruguay Fernando Silva
2007Uruguay José Brancato & Uruguay Francisco Berrutti
2007–2008Uruguay Alberico Passadore
2008–2009Argentina García Porcel
2009Uruguay Felipe Puig
2010Argentina Gonzalo Camardón
2011Uruguay Sebastián Piñeyrúa
2011–2015Uruguay Pablo Lemoine
2016–presentArgentina Esteban Meneses

See also

References

  1. Richards, p54, Chapter 2 Practising the Games of the Anglo-Saxon...
  2. "Uruguay qualify for Rugby World Cup 2015" Archived 2014-10-12 at the Wayback Machine, IRB.com, 11 October 2014.
  3. "Uruguay shock Fiji in World Cup thriller to pull off historic victory". Guardian. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  4. "Uruguay pull off massive shock with World Cup win over Fiji". The 42. 25 September 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  5. "Rugby: Nightclub files criminal complaint against Uruguay players". Kyodo News. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Men's World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 25 December 2023.
  7. "RWC 2023 Warm-Up – Uruguay vs Chile – ARN Guide". americas rugby news. 27 July 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  8. "Uruguay hold on to win at home against Chile". americas rugby news. 29 July 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  9. Uruguay rugby statistics
  10. PLANTEL DE URUGUAY PARA LA COPA DEL MUNDO DE FRANCIA 2023
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