Uruguay national rugby union team

Uruguay

Nickname(s)	Los Teros
Emblem	Southern lapwing
Union	Unión de Rugby del Uruguay
Head coach	Esteban Meneses
Captain	Juan Manuel Gaminara
Most caps	Rodrigo Sanchez (67)
Top scorer	Federico Sciarra (261)
Top try scorer	Diego Ormaechea (33)
Home stadium	Estadio Charrúa
First colours Second colours
World Rugby ranking
Current	21 (as of 15 February 2016)
Highest	15 (2005)
Lowest	23 (2012)
First international
Uruguay 3–21 Chile (5 August 1948)
Biggest win
Uruguay 102–6 Paraguay (14 May 2011)
Biggest defeat
South Africa 134–3 Uruguay (11 June 2005)
World Cup
Appearances	3 (First in 1999)
Best result	Pool stage, 1999, 2003, 2015
Website	www.uru.org.uy

2015 Rugby World Cup repechage qualifier match between Uruguay and Russia

2015 Rugby World Cup warm-up match between Uruguay and Argentina XV

The Uruguay national rugby union team is the representative side of Uruguay, governed by the Unión de Rugby del Uruguay. They have been playing international rugby since 1948. Their jersey is blue and black and they are known as Los Teros (Southern lapwing). They have qualified three times for the Rugby World Cup, in 1999, 2003 and most recently for the 2015 tournament. As of 8 August 2015 they are ranked 19th in the world.

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 yet, Uruguay have never beaten Argentina in an official match between the two nations, despite some close results.

Their home stadium is Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo and holds up to 14,000 people.

History

1940s – 1960s

Uruguay made their official international debut in 1948, in a game against Chile, which Uruguay lost 21–3. Following their debut match, they return 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 0–59 in Montevideo during a South American tour. Uruguay after this match entered their second South American Rugby Championship. They first won Brazil in a close game (11–8), losing then 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 southern lapwing, emblem of the Uruguayan National Rugby Team

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.

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.^[1]

Record

Overall record

World Rugby Rankings
Top 30 rankings as of 1 May 2016[2]
Rank	Change*	Team	Points
1		New Zealand	96.10
2		Australia	89.33
3		South Africa	87.66
4		England	83.98
5		Wales	83.10
6		Argentina	82.59
7		Ireland	80.33
8		France	78.36
9		Scotland	78.32
10		Japan	77.05
11		Fiji	76.96
12		Georgia	72.62
13		Tonga	71.60
14		Italy	70.78
15		Samoa	70.36
16		Romania	67.52
17		United States	65.68
18		Canada	64.27
19		Russia	63.56
20		Uruguay	63.23
21		Namibia	61.75
22		Spain	60.87
23		Belgium	57.94
24		Germany	57.71
25		Hong Kong	57.17
26		South Korea	56.70
27	1	Kenya	55.89
28	1	Chile	55.73
29		Ukraine	55.51
30		Portugal	54.29
*Change from the previous week
Uruguay's Historical Rankings
Source: World Rugby - Graph updated to 1 November 2015[2]

Up until the 4 December 2012, Uruguay has won 81 of their 175 matches played, a win percentage of 46.29%.^[3]

Uruguay has lost all official matches versus Argentina, but has a positive record versus their other South American rivals: Chile (25 wins, 13 losses, 1 draw), Paraguay (20 wins, 1 draw) and Brazil (16 wins, 3 losses).

Regarding tier 2 teams, Uruguay has positive records with Portugal, neutral records with Spain, and negative records with United States, Canada, Georgia, Romania and Russia.

Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Uruguay national XV at test level up until 30 April 2016.^[4]

Opponent	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn	Win %	For	Aga	Diff
Argentina	40	0	40	0	0.00%	405	1702	−1297
Argentina XV	7	1	6	0	14.29%	81	344	−263
Argentina XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	7	63	−56
Australia	1	0	1	0	0.00%	3	65	−62
Belgium	1	1	0	0	100.00%	39	13	+26
Brazil	24	21	3	0	87.50%	829	217	+612
Canada	9	1	8	0	11.11%	125	280	−155
Chile	47	35	11	1	74.47%	1083	729	+354
Emerging Ireland	3	0	3	0	0.00%	43	126	−83
Emerging Italy	1	0	1	0	0.00%	13	23	−10
England	2	0	2	0	0.00%	16	171	−155
Fiji	2	0	2	0	0.00%	39	86	−47
Fiji XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	3	24	−21
Fiji Warriors	2	0	2	0	0.00%	44	72	−28
France XV	2	0	2	0	0.00%	6	95	−89
Georgia	5	2	3	0	40.00%	72	85	−13
Hong Kong	1	1	0	0	100.00%	28	3	+25
Italy	3	0	3	0	0.00%	25	92	−67
Japan	3	1	2	0	33.33%	32	88	−56
Kazakhstan	1	1	0	0	100.00%	44	7	+37
Morocco	2	1	1	0	50.00%	36	24	+12
Namibia	1	1	0	0	100.00%	23	12	+11
New Zealand XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	3	64	−61
Paraguay	25	24	0	1	96.00%	1277	219	+1058
Peru	1	1	0	0	100.00%	10	6	+4
Portugal	10	7	3	0	70.00%	234	142	+92
Romania	6	0	5	1	0.00%	75	150	−75
Russia	7	3	4	0	42.86%	151	160	−9
Samoa	1	0	1	0	0.00%	13	60	−47
Scotland	1	0	1	0	0.00%	12	43	−31
Scotland A	1	0	1	0	0.00%	3	27	−24
South Africa	3	0	3	0	0.00%	12	245	−233
South Africa President's XV	1	0	1	0	0.00%	9	37	−28
Spain	8	4	4	0	50.00%	155	109	+46
United States	16	3	12	1	18.75%	269	488	−219
USA Selects	1	0	1	0	0.00%	3	13	−10
Venezuela	1	1	0	0	100.00%	92	8	+84
Wales	1	0	1	0	0.00%	9	54	−45
Total	243	109	130	4	44.85%	5323	6146	−824

World Cup record

World Cup record									World Cup Qualification record
Year	Finished	Played	Won	Drew	Lost	Pts F	Pts A		P	W	D	L	F	A
1987	Not invited								—
1991	Did not enter								Did not enter
1995	Did not qualify								3	2	0	1	91	28
1999	Pool Stage	3	1	0	2	42	97		9	6	0	3	209	188
2003	Pool Stage	4	1	0	3	56	255		6	3	0	3	115	144
2007	Did not qualify								6	2	0	4	86	140
2011									6	3	1	2	194	107
2015	Pool Stage	4	0	0	4	30	226		8	6	1	1	239	146
Total	3/6	11	2	0	9	128	578		38	22	2	14	934	753

Current squad

Uruguay's initial 24-man squad for the 2016 Americas Rugby Championship.^[5]

On 8 February, Ignacio Dotti, Federico Favaro and the uncapped trio of Lukas Lacoste, Ignacio Secco and Martín Secco were called up ahead of the Brazil fixture.^[6]

On 17 February, Fernando Bascou, Facundo Klappenbach, Juan Diego Ormaechea and Andrés Rocco were named in the team to face Argentina in round 3.^[7]

Head Coach: Esteban Meneses

• Caps updated: 17 March 2016

Player Position Date of Birth (Age) Caps Club/province Arboleya, CarlosCarlos Arboleya Hooker 23 July 1985 58 Trébol de Paysandú Kessler, GermánGermán Kessler Hooker 1 July 1994 17 Los Cuervos de Mula, RodolfoRodolfo de Mula Prop 18 March 1985 24 Pucaru Stade Gaulois Echeverriá, JuanJuan Echeverriá Prop 9 October 1991 14 Old Christians Gattas, FacundoFacundo Gattas Prop 2 July 1995 4 Lobos Mones, RafaelRafael Mones Prop 12 January 1994 1 Seminario Sagario, MarioMario Sagario Prop 29 June 1986 52 Munster Sanguinetti, MateoMateo Sanguinetti Prop 26 July 1992 22 Los Cuervos Secco, IgnacioIgnacio Secco Prop 1 Trébol de Paysandú Dotti, IgnacioIgnacio Dotti Lock 18 August 1994 5 Los Cuervos Lamanna, FrancoFranco Lamanna Lock 5 October 1991 27 Carrasco Polo Palomeque, MathiasMathias Palomeque Lock 7 October 1986 29 Trébol de Paysandú Soto, GonzaloGonzalo Soto Lock 10 February 1995 4 Carrasco Polo Beer, MatíasMatías Beer Flanker 16 December 1993 19 Old Christians Lacoste, LukasLukas Lacoste Flanker 1 Trébol de Paysandú Magno, DiegoDiego Magno Flanker 27 April 1989 55 Montevideo Manuel Gaminara, JuanJuan Manuel Gaminara (c) Flanker 1 May 1989 30 Old Boys Ormaechea, Juan DiegoJuan Diego Ormaechea Flanker 28 January 1989 14 Carrasco Polo Nieto, AlejandroAlejandro Nieto Number 8 7 January 1988 36 Champagnat Arata, SantiagoSantiago Arata Scrum-half 3 Pucaru Stade Gaulois Lijtenstein, GuillermoGuillermo Lijtenstein Scrum-half 14 September 1990 18 Trébol de Paysandú Ormaechea, AgustínAgustín Ormaechea Scrum-half 8 March 1991 28 Stade Montois Blengio, ManuelManuel Blengio Fly-half 28 April 1994 13 Old Christians Secco, MartínMartín Secco Fly-half 2 Los Cuervos Silva, RodrigoRodrigo Silva Fly-half 2 November 1992 22 Carrasco Polo Deal, PedroPedro Deal Centre 13 October 1994 7 Old Boys Román, AlbertoAlberto Román Centre 1 June 1987 41 Pucaru Stade Gaulois Vilaseca, AndrésAndrés Vilaseca Centre 8 May 1991 20 Old Boys Leivas, LeandroLeandro Leivas Wing 6 July 1988 48 Old Christians Favaro, FedericoFederico Favaro Wing 19 May 1991 12 Old Christians Martinez, SantiagoSantiago Martinez Wing 15 June 1993 3 Carrasco Polo Mieres, GastónGastón Mieres Fullback 5 October 1989 43 Coventry

Individual all-time records

Most matches

#	Player	Pos	Tenure	Mat	Start	Sub	Pts	Tries	Won	Lost	Draw	%
1	Rodrigo Sanchez	Centre	1996-2009	67	58	9	25	5	26	41	0	38.80
2	Diego Aguirre	Fly-half	1992-2007	58	58	0	115	7	23	35	0	39.65
3	Nicolas Grille	Flanker	1996-2007	54	43	11	40	8	23	31	0	42.59
	Diego Ormaechea	Number 8	1979-1999	54	51	3	151	33	29	25	0	53.70
	Carlos Arboleya	Hooker	2004-	54	32	22	20	4	20	33	1	37.96
6	Diego Lamelas	Hooker	1992-2006	52	37	15	30	6	23	29	0	44.23
7	Pedro Vecino	Centre	1990-2003	51	51	0	50	10	25	26	0	49.01
	Diego Magno	Flanker	2008-	51	40	11	20	4	21	28	2	43.13
	Mario Sagario	Prop	2006-	51	36	15	5	1	14	35	2	29.41
9	Alejo Corral	Prop	2009-	50	37	13	15	3	18	30	2	38.00

Last updated: England vs Uruguay, 10 October 2015. Statistics include officially capped matches only. ^[8]

Most tries

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Start	Sub	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop
1.	Diego Ormaechea	Number 8	1979-1999	54	51	3	151	33	0	0	0
2.	Alfonso Cardoso	Centre	1995-2003	38	35	3	67	13	1	0	0
	Leandro Leivas	Wing	2008-	44	33	11	65	13	0	0	0
4.	Federico Sciarra	Flanker	1990-1999	39	37	2	261	12	36	43	1
5.	Santiago Gibernau	Wing	1996–2002	35	32	3	50	10	0	0	0
	Marcelo Nicola	Wing	1989-1995	21	17	4	172	10	33	20	0
	Pedro Vecino	Centre	1990-2003	51	51	0	50	10	0	0	0
8	4 players on 9 tries

Last updated: England vs Uruguay, 10 October 2015. Statistics include officially capped matches only. ^[8]

Most points

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Start	Sub	Pts	Tries	Conv	Pens	Drop
1	Federico Sciarra	Scrum-half	1990-1999	39	37	2	261	12	36	43	1
2	Juan Menchaca	Fullback	1998-2007	39	35	4	254	6	28	51	5
3	Mathias Arocena	Fly-half	2005-2014	36	30	6	204	8	25	37	1
4	Jerónimo Etcheverry	Fly-half	2008-	43	39	4	204	8	37	27	3
5	Marcelo Nicola	Fly-half	1989-1995	21	17	4	172	10	33	20	0
6	Jorge Zerbino	Flanker	1973-1985	26	25	1	153	7	19	29	0
7	Diego Ormaechea	Number 8	1979-1999	54	15	3	151	33	0	0	0
8	Felipe Berchesi	Fly-half	2011-	18	17	1	119	1	6	33	1
9	Agustín Ormaechea	Scrum-half	2011-	27	25	2	117	5	16	20	0
10	Diego Aguirre	Fly-half	1992-2007	58	58	0	115	7	10	20	0

Last updated: England vs Uruguay, 10 October 2015. Statistics include officially capped matches only. ^[8]

Most matches as captain

#	Player	Pos	Span	Mat	Won	Lost	Draw	%	Pts	Tries
1	Diego Ormaechea	Number 8	1985-1999	36	20	16	0	55.55	109	23
2	Jorge Zerbino	Flanker	1975–1985	20	12	6	2	65.00	120	7
3	Diego Aguirre	Fly-half	2002-2003	16	6	10	0	37.50	21	1
4	Nicolás Klappenbach	Hooker	2005-	25	16	8	8	50.00	0	0
5	Mario Lame	Lock	1995-2001	14	6	8	0	42.85	5	1

Last updated: England vs Uruguay, 10 October 2015. Statistics include officially capped matches only. ^[8]

Notable All Times Players

• Diego Aguirre
• Rodrigo Capo Ortega
• Alfonso Cardoso
• Alejo Corral
• Diego Lamelas
• Juan Menchaca
• Diego Ormaechea
• Pablo Lemoine
• Juan Campomar
• Joaquin Pastore

See also

• Rugby union in Uruguay
• Campeonato Uruguayo de Rugby – Club Championship of Uruguay

References

1. "Uruguay qualify for Rugby World Cup 2015", IRB.com, 11 October 2014.
2. "World Rankings". World Rugby. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
3. "Statistics for Men's International Rugby Union — Uruguay". Rugbydata.com. Retrieved 4 December 2012.
4. Uruguay rugby statistics
5. CON LA CABEZA PUESTA EN CANADÁ
6. "Brazil and Uruguay set for São Paulo". Americas Rugby News. 11 February 2016. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
7. Gaminara returns for Los Teros
8. ESPN scrum http://stats.espnscrum.com/scrum/rugby/records/player/most_points.html?id=29;type=team. Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links

• Unión de Rugby del Uruguay – Official Site
• Uruguay – Rugbydata.com
• Uruguay Official Matches