Uruguay enjoy the present while preparing for the future
The Uruguayan team, the 20th and final qualifier to Rugby World Cup 2015, will be playing in their third tournament, returning after missing out in 2007 and 2011.
Their recent two-leg win against Russia, which booked their place in Pool A with Australia, Wales, Fiji and hosts England, saw them play in front of about 13,000 people, their biggest home crowd to date. The future looks very positive for rugby in this small South American country of little over four million. Among the spectators that day was the country’s President, José “Pepe” Muijica, attending his first test match. He loved what he saw and the wheels soon began to be put in motion.
Head of Rugby World Cup Alan Gilpin hosted a Uruguayan delegation comprising Sports and Tourism Minister Liliam Kechichian, Ambassador to the UK Fernando López Fabregat and National Tourism Director Benjamin Liberoff, at Twickenham.
Gilpin said: “It is important for RWCL and World Rugby to meet with the representatives of Uruguay, particularly the Sports Minister, and discuss preparations for RWC 2015. In helping Uruguay prepare, we need to understand the government support they will receive.”
During the meeting, RWC received an assurance that the Uruguayan government was committed to help support and fund the team’s preparations, as well as supporting the growth of rugby in Uruguay generally. World Rugby will also put significant high performance funding in place over the next year to assist the team’s preparations.
Working for the future
Fittingly, they met in a room overlooking the stadium that will host 10 games next year, including the opening and final matches.
“We were able to explain how World Rugby will support Uruguayan Rugby and to seek commitments from their government. It also allows us to discuss commercial opportunities and other ideas for the long-term growth of the sport in Uruguay,” added Gilpin.
Minister Kechichian was delighted with the meeting. “It was very positive as they told us how keen they were in assisting countries such as ours with competition and financial support. We are very happy that Los Teros qualified to Rugby World Cup. It is a sport that has key values crucial to our society. Rugby was seen as a sport for a few but it will grow and now faces a great opportunity,” she said.
Uruguayan rugby moved to the Charrúa Stadium last year, a venue that was granted to them by the national government for a minimum 10-year period. It has become La Tierra de Los Teros (Los Teros’ Land), where their high performance programme is based, reaching not only the national squad but all the way down to under-17s.
The national government has been a big financial contributor either in grants or through state-run companies.
“Now the private sector has to come into the equation and is more present,” said Kechichian who, after the meeting, was given a tour of the rugby museum at Twickenham.
URU President Sebastián Piñeyrúa is very thankful of his government’s support. “Not only does its financial assistance make a difference. The government also helps us to open doors and reach more and more people. We are using World Rugby’s mass-participation programme ‘Get Into Rugby’ to make our sport more popular. In three months, we’ve reached 5,000 children who have now been introduced to the game,” he explained.
“We are not working for today but for 2019. Our dream is to consolidate rugby as a national sport,” said the former national coach.
Gilpin and World Rugby are in line with this view. “Our goals are to see them perform at their highest level and for their participation in RWC 2015 to provide a springboard for the growth and development of rugby in Uruguay. We want the investment in Uruguay Rugby to create sustainable growth in the sport.”