Rugby Union In Uruguay

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 five Rugby World Cups: 1999, 2003, 2015, 2019 and 2023.

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.

Governing body

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.Bath, p77 It is also a member of CONSUR.

History

Early history

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.Richards, p54, Chapter 2 ''Practising the Games of the Anglo-Saxon...'' It has been claimed that Montevideo Cricket Club 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. Montevideo Cricket Club in history
, p5, retrieved 31 August 2009 One observer, apparently disdainful of the Britons mixing with the "natives", found the 1880 match to be:

:"''...at the same time sublime and ridiculous... hat theyoung sons of distinguished families practising the games of the Anglo-Saxon in their youth and young Englishmen of blond Albion, face to face ... and on all sides erepeople strangely dressed who ran and shouted, pushed, fell, rose and finished by joining to form now a circle, now a pyramid, now a compact mass in which one could only distinguish heads without shoulders, legs without bodies and hands without arms.''"

Post-War period

After the Second World War, there was something of a revival, thanks largely to Carlos E. Cat, who had played for San Isidro (CASI) in the 1920s.Richards, p164, Chapter 9 ''From Muller to Mias''
Uruguay's rugby union international debut came in 1948, where they played a friendly match against Chile, which they eventually lost 21–3.

In 1949, "rugby criollo" was introduced into the Carrasco Polo Club, which not unlike the MVCC, would become more renowned for rugby than the sport it was named for.

In 1950, the Campeonato Uruguayo was held for first time, being today the main local competition. Its success led to the formation of the sports new governing body, the Uruguayan Rugby Union, in January 1951, with Carlos Cat as its first president. The first Club Championship was contested by Old Boys, Colonia Rugby, and multisport clubs such as Montevideo Cricket Club

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