Everything you need to know ahead of Montevideo SVNS 2

Montevideo’s Estadio Charrúa is set to hum with fans from around the world, as the second leg of the SVNS 2 tournament converges on Uruguay’s home of rugby in March.

However, those thinking that rugby is a fringe sport in the football-mad South American country would be gravely mistaken, with the roots of the game stretching all the way back to the 1880s.

With over 10,000 active players across the country (making it the third most popular sport after basketball and football), Uruguay has taken that base of players and used it to achieve significant international success, both in the larger and in the shorter format of rugby.

Similar to neighbours Argentina and Brazil, rugby was brought to Uruguay by British and Irish immigrants, mostly being played in schools in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Regular internationals would begin in the late 1940s, the first international seeing a 21-3 loss to Chile in 1948.

However, the game quickly picked up speed thanks to the efforts of Carlos E. Cat, who had first taken up the game playing for San Isidro in neighbouring Buenos Aires during the 1920s.

In 1951, the Uruguayan Rugby Union was formed with Cat as its first president, and later that year, the side achieved its first international win, defeating Chile 8-3.

The Campeonato Uruguayo de Rugby, which remains Uruguay’s main domestic competition and pathway for rugby union, was established in 1950.

More regular internationals would begin in the 1970s, with the national side, known as Los Teros, going on to compete at five Rugby World Cups, as well as qualifying for 2027 in Australia.

The larger format of the game would explode following Uruguay’s now regular qualification for the Rugby World Cup from 2015, with 2019 seeing the establishment of the first professional club in the country, Peñarol.

Basing themselves at the spiritual home of Uruguayan rugby, Estadio Charrúa, the side made its debut in the inaugural Super Rugby Americas competition in 2020.

At time of writing, they have gone on to become the most successful side in the history of the competition, winning titles on three occasions.

Their success has spearheaded the national side to be currently ranked 14th in the world, the highest the side has achieved so far in their history.

While the larger format of the game continues to grow, Uruguay was also quick to embrace the Sevens format following its explosion in popularity in the 1970s and 1980s.

The Punta del Este Sevens launched in 1989, featuring briefly as part of the World Sevens Series in its inaugural season in 2000, and more recently as part of the Sudamérica Sevens Series and the World Sevens Challenger Series.

The men’s national sevens side has also punched above its weight, being the second most successful side in the Sudamérica Rugby Sevens competition (after Argentina), winning three titles and finishing as runner-up in six more.

A regular inclusion in the World Series, the side has also competed at five Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments, and in 2024, competed in their first-ever Olympic Games in Paris.

The shortened format has also led the charge for the Uruguayan women’s game, with the Uruguay women’s sevens team playing their first game in 2004.

With the restructure of the HSBC SVNS World Series in 2025, the men’s sevens side competing in SVNS 2 now has an opportunity to show how far the sport come in their homeland, and how high they can fly on rugby’s world stage.

With a spot in the HSBC SVNS World Series Championship up for grabs, where better to do so than at the home of Uruguayan rugby?