Rugby union in Uruguay
| Rugby union in Uruguay | |
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PSG rugby vs OCC, Montevideo
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| Country | Uruguay |
| Governing body | Unión de Rugby del Uruguay |
| National team | Uruguay |
| Nickname(s) | Los Teros |
| First played | 1880 |
| Registered players | 5,829 |
| Clubs | 28 |
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National competitions
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Club competitions
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Rugby union in Uruguay is considered a popular sport. The Uruguay national team, commonly known as Los Teros, have been playing international rugby since the late 1940s and have made appearances in three Rugby World Cups – 1999, 2003 and 2015.
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 the 1999 Rugby World Cup and the subsequent 2003 World Cup, this saw a renewed interest in the sport and broad media coverage of the game.
The Unión 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 the International Rugby Board (IRB) in 1989. It is also a member of CONSUR.
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, the growth of rugby in Uruguay can be attributed largely to the schools of the Christian Brothers which introduced the game from Ireland in the early twentieth century. Their schools tended to play rugby union, whereas those of the Jesuits 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. English cricket clubs were the incubators of rugby in South America, although rugby has survived much better in these countries than cricket has. It has been claimed that Montevideo Cricket Club (MVCC) played rugby football as early as 1865, but the first certain match was between Uruguayans and British members of the MVCC in 1880. The MVCC claims to be the oldest rugby club outside Europe. One observer, apparently disdainful of the Britons mixing with the "natives", found the 1880 match to be:
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