Friday, November 30, 2007


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.

Uruguay national rugby union team History
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.
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 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.

1990s-present

1987 - Did not enter.
1991 - Did not qualify.
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

Rugby union in Uruguay

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