Tournament hosts Uruguay are aiming for a clean sweep of wins at the World Rugby Nations Cup to send them into their next Rugby World Cup 2019 qualification challenge with renewed confidence.
While Los Teros’ recent Nations Cup record is disappointing – winning just one game in each of the 2014 and 2016 editions – they go into this year’s event in good shape after a third-place finish at the Americas Rugby Championship was backed up by another Sudamerica Rugby A Championship title.
As winners of the region’s marquee tournament, Uruguay kept their RWC 2019 qualification dream alive and they’ll now face either USA or Canada for the right to compete in Japan as Americas 2.
Winning the Nations Cup on home soil would give a positive affirmation of the progress made under head coach Esteban Meneses.
“Playing at home for us is very important, as we can take out the travel factor,” said Los Teros full-back Rodrigo Silva (pictured). “A tournament of this stature against teams of this calibre is big news and we expect fans to come and support us and the Nations Cup as a tournament.
“We are aiming to win the three games as we have been working very hard over the past few months at improving our game plan. The ultimate goal is to be ready to challenge for a place in Rugby World Cup 2019.”
NEW VENUE
With traditional hosts Romania on tour this summer as part of an enhanced playing programme for tier two nations, the Nations Cup has decamped to South America for the first time in its 11-year history.
Namibia, Spain, Argentina XV, Russia and Emerging Italy will join Los Teros in the Uruguayan capital Montevideo as they compete for the coveted trophy across three rounds on 10, 14 and 18 June. Games will be played at the Estadio Charrúa and in Punta del Este, the venues for the World Rugby U20 Trophy 2017 in August and September.
A highly-competitive tournament looks to be on the cards. The four test playing teams in the line-up are ranked consecutively between 18th and 21st place in the World Rugby Rankings, from Spain down to Uruguay, and Argentina XV were runners-up to Romania in each of the last two years.
Meanwhile, Emerging Italy will be hoping to make an impression too, as they did when beating Uruguay 26-24 on the opening day in 2016.
Italy’s conveyor belt of talent certainly appears to be in rude health judging by the excellent performances of the Azzurrini at the World Rugby U20 Championship in Georgia, and captain Sebastian Negri says his young squad are looking to impress. “We’re hungry to showcase our talent,” he said. “We’ve had a good build-up and this tournament is a great opportunity for each of the players.”
Having missed the last two tournaments, Russia return to the Nations Cup fold. Captain Vasily Artemyev says they are looking forward to the challenge that awaits them. “We have recently started our season and are all very fit and ready to play. We haven’t been together as a squad since March so we will have to get rid of some rust but we will be ready when the time comes.
“We have a good mix of youth and experience and we want to integrate the younger players and use our physicality to challenge every team that we are going to face.”
Namibia and Spain have the honour of kicking off the tournament, followed by Russia’s game against Argentina XV, with Uruguay and Emerging Italy re-enacting their opening day clash from last year in the final fixture of the day.
As well as playing an important role in the player development pathway for tier two nations, the Nations Cup also provides a competitive platform for match officials to hone their skills. The four officials for the tournament are Joaquín Montes (Uruguay), Vlad Iordachescu (Romania), Kurt Weaver (USA) and Inigo Atorrasagasti (Spain)
All matches from the Nations Cup will be streamed live on www.worldrugby.org.