| Rugby union in Uruguay | |
|---|---|
 PSG rugby vs OCC,Montevideo | |
| Country | Uruguay |
| Governing body | Unión de Rugby del Uruguay |
| National team | Uruguay |
| Nickname | Los Teros |
| First played | 1880 |
| Registered players | 37,463[1] |
| Clubs | 28 |
| National competitions | |
| Club competitions | |
Rugby union in Uruguay is considered a popular sport. TheUruguay national team, commonly known asLos Teros, have been playing international rugby since the late 1940s and have made appearances in fiveRugby World Cups:1999,2003,2015,2019 and2023.
Rugby union is a popular recreational sport in Uruguay. Rugby union is considered the third most popular sport, behind association football (soccer) and basketball. The popularity of rugby union took off after the national side qualified for the1999 Rugby World Cup and the subsequent2003 World Cup, this saw a renewed interest in the sport and broad media coverage of the game.
TheUnión de Rugby del Uruguay is the governing body for rugby union in Uruguay. The organisation was founded in 1951 and became an official affiliate of theInternational Rugby Board (IRB) in 1989.[2] It is also a member ofCONSUR.
There is some argument as to who introduced the sport to the country.The British Schools of Montevideo claim that they were the first to play the game in the country. However, thegrowth of rugby in Uruguay can be attributed largely to the schools of theChristian Brothers which introduced the game from Ireland in the early twentieth century. Their schools tended to play rugby union, whereas those of theJesuits played football.
Rugby was being played in neighbouring Argentina and Brazil in the late nineteenth century, mainly by British immigrants, and there is some evidence of this within Uruguay itself. Englishcricket clubs were the incubators of rugby in South America, although rugby has survived much better in these countries than cricket has.[3] It has been claimed thatMontevideo Cricket Club (MVCC) playedrugby football as early as 1865,[3] but the first certain match was between Uruguayans and British members of the MVCC in 1880.[3] The MVCC claims to be the oldest rugby club outside Europe.[4] One observer, apparently disdainful of the Britons mixing with the "natives", found the 1880 match to be:
After the Second World War, there was something of a revival, thanks largely to Carlos E. Cat, who had played forSan Isidro (CASI) in the 1920s.[5] Uruguay's rugby union international debut came in 1948, where they played a friendly match againstChile, which they eventually lost 21–3.
In 1949, "rugby criollo" was introduced into theCarrasco Polo Club, which not unlike the MVCC, would become more renowned for rugby than the sport it was named for.[5]
In 1950, theCampeonato Uruguayo was held for first time, being today the main local competition. Its success led to the formation of the sports new governing body, theUruguayan Rugby Union, in January 1951, with Carlos Cat as its first president. The first Club Championship was contested byOld Boys, Colonia Rugby, and multisport clubs such asMontevideo Cricket Club (MVCC) andCarrasco Polo (which supplied two XVs).[5]
A second international followed in '51, against a vastly more experiencedArgentina team, in theSouth American Championship. Again Uruguay were defeated this time 62–0.[5] Uruguay, however did beatChile in this championship.[5] Following these matches Uruguay did not have a solid international calendar, so their next international match would be five years later, against Chile.
One consequence was thatArgentina's governing body could no longer call itself the "River Plate Rugby Union", as Uruguay occupied the east bank, and had to rename itself the UAR in November 1951.[5]
The 1970s saw a much better period for rugby union in Uruguay in comparison to previous decades with an increase in player numbers. The national team started off with a win overParaguay in 1971, which was followed by a win and loss against Chile and a win againstBrazil. They were beaten by Argentina by 55 points on two occasions in the early 1970s. However, except for these two against Argentina, they won all their matches. This led to a huge rise in the game's profile in Uruguay.
Carrasco Polo was transformed by the coaching of Amarillo Washington, who used scientific methods to replace the earlier habits of "training hard, but then after matches going to the bar to eat and drink everything."[6] Carrasco's leading playerDiego Ormaechea had been introduced to the sport as a fifteen-year-old in 1976 and was still playing for club and country more than twenty years later.[6]
In the 1980s, theUnión de Rugby del Uruguay used the success of coaching at Stella Maris and the British School as a template for spreading the game into other schools.[7]
The year 1989 saw theUnión de Rugby del Uruguay, officially join theInternational Rugby Board (IRB) this saw increased international competition. The 1990s started off in an optimistic fashion, with three straight defeats ofChile,Brazil andParaguay. This was followed by more wins over their traditional opponents, though Uruguay still lost to South America's powerhouseArgentina. Uruguay's biggest success was qualifying for the1999 Rugby World Cup in Wales. Uruguay finished third in their pool, winning one game against a weak Spanish side, which was not good enough to qualify for the knockout stages. Despite this rugby union's profile soared and is considered the third most popular sport, after football and basketball.
In 1993,Carrasco Polo beat aBuenos Aires squad which included 14Pumas.[6]
Ormaechea, aged 40 years old, was also the oldest player ever at theRugby World Cup finals, in 1999, being the captain in his country first ever presence at the event. He scored a try in the 27–15 win overSpain. (He had been introduced to rugby as a fifteen-year-old in 1976, and played for over two decades.[6]) In addition, Ormaechea was older than URU president, Andres Sanguinetti.[8]
Uruguay has been visited by at least two French tours –that of 1960, andthat of 1985.
Although the number of clubs is relatively small, rugby enjoys great socialkudos in Uruguay, with past presidents of the URU includingPedro Bordaberry, a formercabinet minister,[9] as well as Andres Sanguinetti, the half-brother of former national presidentJulio María Sanguinetti.[8] This has ensured that the game is reasonably well funded.[10]
One of the best known fixtures of Uruguayan rugby is thePunta del Este Sevens, which has attracted many of the world's top sides to one of South America's swankiest beach resorts.[10]
The crash ofUruguayan Air Force Flight 571 brought Uruguayan rugby into the global limelight. Members of the amateurOld Christians Clubrugby union team fromMontevideo, Uruguay, were scheduled to play a match inSantiago, Chile, against the Old Boys Club, an English rugby team. Club president Daniel Juan chartered aUruguayan Air Force twinturbopropFairchild FH-227D airplane to fly the team over theAndes mountains to Santiago. The aircraft carried 40 passengers and 5 crew members. Thepilot in command, Colonel Julio César Ferradas, was an experienced Air Force pilot with 5,117 hours of flight time. He was accompanied by co-pilot Lieutenant-Colonel Dante Héctor Lagurara. There were extra seats, so the team invited friends and family members to accompany them. The plane crashed in theAndes Mountains due to pilot error. Ultimately 16 passengers survived after being trapped for over two months on the mountain.[11]
During the1999 Rugby World Cup, the national squad was reported to have been saddened by persistent press questioning about Flight 571, rather than their achievement in reaching it with such a small player base.[8]
Thenational team, more commonly known as theLos Teros (southern lapwing), represent Uruguay at international level. The team is governed by the Unión de Rugby del Uruguay and are the second highest ranked team in South America after Argentina at 18th in the world. The team plays almost all of its home games at the 14,000-capacityEstadio Charrúa in Montevideo, typically drawing about 11,000 for international fixtures.
Uruguay has made a name for itself as the up-and-coming rugby nation of the Americas.[10] Its wins of 67–3 overParaguay and 14–6 overChile in the qualifiers for the1995 Rugby World Cup ensured that its place as the No. 2 nation in South American rugby was assured.[10] In the same competition, they managed to holdArgentina, the most successful rugby nation of the Americas, to 10–19.[10] This places Uruguay as No. 4 within the Americas a whole, despite its small population and number of players.
Although Uruguay's women have not yet played test match rugby, they have been playinginternational sevens rugby since 2004.(Current playing record).
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