Uruguay wants to rewrite RWC history

TOKYO - Uruguay feel they have already “written history” in this Rugby World Cup after an historic win over Fiji.

This tournament is the South Americans’ third Rugby World Cup and they have found wins in two of their previous appearances but none against as significant an opponent as Fiji last week.

The victory, in Osaka, was a major boon for Uruguay, a country with just 6000 registered rugby participants and ranked just 18th in the world.

Uruguay met Australia yesterday. The Wallabies beating Uruguay 63-5 in Birmingham in the last RWC with a string of big names rested.

This time around, the Wallabies have rotated many of their stars.

Assistant coach Joaquin Pastore, who played for Uruguay until 2009, said the Teros had a point to prove in this tournament, especially in their final matches against Wales and the Wallabies.

“We came to this Rugby World Cup to shock the world and we have written history by beating Fiji,” he said.

“We have beaten nations in prior Rugby World Cups however we are here to just show the world our rugby in our country has developed to the same level or at least close to Australia or Wales.”

Pastore said positive outings against Fiji and then Georgia had given them plenty of optimism but they were keen to show they could step up another level against the two biggest teams in Pool D.

“We think once we played against Fiji and then Georgia we knew that we have made good work in these four years not prepare for these matches.

“We haven’t just prepared for the Fiji and Georgia matches but also against a team such as Australia and Wales.

“We need to show our best version in this four years we have trained for,” he said.

“The effort since the beginning of the Rugby World Cup we’re very happy with.”