Tears flow as Uruguay spring surprise on Fiji
AN emotional Juan Manuel Gaminara broke down in tears as he was interviewed after his team’s historic win over Fiji.
The Uruguay captain described it as a moment he would never forget after they beat the South Sea Islanders at the Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium yesterday.
The South American minnows, who were playing their first game of the tournament, condemned the Pacific Islanders to their second defeat in five days to leave their Pool D qualification hopes in tatters.
It has been described as one of the biggest shocks in the history of the World Cup.
And it means Wales are almost certain to qualify for the quarter-finals if they can beat Australia in Pool D on Sunday.
Uruguay led 24-12 at the end of the first half and showed great character to fend off a Fiji comeback and be deserved victors.
Santiago Arata, Manuel Diana and Juan Manuel Cat got Uruguay’s tries with outside-half Felipe Berchesi converting all three and kicking three penalties for a 15-point haul.
Fiji’s tries came from Mesulame Dolokoto, Eroni Mawi, Api Ratuniyarawa and Niko Matawalu to claim a losing bonus point.
Through tears, Gaminara said: “I am really proud of my country. We are not the biggest, we are not the tallest. We came here to win and we have been working on this for four years so I am very proud of my country.
“We have been working on this since we qualified. We never took anything for granted. It is always tough to qualify first, so since we qualified we have been thinking about this.
“You saw the passion. I am really proud.”
He also thanked the host town Kamaishi which has rebuilt itself for the Rugby World Cup after being destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
“It was a privilege to play here,” he said.