Four years ago the motto was “shock the world”. And they did, beating Fiji 30-27 for one of the bigger Rugby World Cup surprise results. This time around the Uruguayan team, better know as “Los Teros”, get their tournament underway against hosts France on Thursday night with a more ambitious goal: “make history”.
By history they mean qualifying automatically for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, and to achieve it they will need to finish third in Pool A. It is a big goal in a tough group because it means winning two games: against Namibia – where they are favourites – and against Italy, who despite being the least powerful force in the Six Nations are still one of the top 10 teams in quality of competition and budget. The goal is so clearly marked that Uruguay’s coach, Esteban Meneses, considers the match against France as the team’s preparation for the clash with Italy on 20 September in Nice. And it makes sense: the team has only played one game against a Tier One opponent in four years: Italy, in November 2021 in Parma, when they lost 17-10.
