Around 15 Uruguayans are to play in Major League Rugby

Around 15 Uruguayans are to play in Major League Rugby. The players are to go to the USA in December following the completion of Los Teros’ European tour. The move is a part of a special agreement between the Union de Rugby del Uruguay (URU) and MLR.

Pioneers
Of the Uruguayan players who are to play in Major League Rugby three names are already known. Santiago Arata (scrum half), Ignacio Dotti (second-row), and Santiago Vilaseca (center) will play in the USA’s professional competition in 2019 with Arata’s destination to be the Houston SaberCats.

The trio were all signed by the URU earlier this year. Having qualified for RWC 2019 Uruguay immediately turned attention to the tournament itself. The union is leaving no stone unturned as Los Teros look to be as competitive as they possibly can in Japan.

More to Follow
In total 15 players signed with the URU. These men have been training full time in Uruguay’s Estadio Charrúa, the national High Performance Rugby Center. The agreement between the URU and USA Rugby is now looking to get players into Major League Rugby to help bolster the competition and give Uruguay’s athletes vital playing time. Brazil and Chile are to both also have players in Major League Rugby.

Arata, Dotti and Vilaseca all signed with the URU. They and the 12 others who did so are shown in the following table:

PLAYER	POS	CAPS	CLUB
Mateo Sanguinetti	LH	50	Los Cuervos
Germán Kessler	HO	37	Los Cuervos
Juan Echeverría	TH	39	Old Christians
Ignacio Dotti	LO	35	Los Cuervos
Diego Magno	LO	82	MVCC
Juan Manuel Gaminara	FL	54	Old Boys
Alejandro Nieto	N8	59	Champagnat
Santiago Arata	SH	27	Old Christians
Juan Manuel Cat	CE	20	Old Boys
Joaquín Prada	CE	42	Los Cuervos
Andrés Vilaseca	CE	42	Old Boys
Nicolás Freitas	WI	23	Carrasco Polo
Leandro Leivas	WI	68	Old Christians
Gastón Mieres	FB	59	Lobos
Rodrigo Silva	FB	49	Carrasco Polo

These players now have the chance of playing Major League Rugby. Of them Nicolás Freitas is unlikely to play. He underwent surgery last month and will not play for Uruguay in the November Internationals.

Of the 15 the notable absentee is Mario Sagario. The former French and Irish based tighthead prop did not commit to the URU due to his work and study commitments. He would be an instant fit for Major League Rugby.

The Big Picture
For Uruguay the big picture is RWC 2019. It is to be Uruguay’s fourth appearance in a RWC. In 1999 Uruguay defeated Spain and in 2003 they downed Georgia. In their third RWC, in 2015, they were winless and were hampered by a lack of preparation time.

Investment from the URU saw players training as professionals before the RWC but it was a question of several months rather than the 2019 preparation which falls 18 months after Uruguay qualified.

Between now at RWC 2019 Uruguay will play in the November Internationals, 2019 Americas Rugby Championship and play RWC Warm-Up matches against undetermined opposition. In Europe in November this means matches against the Cardiff Blues, Ulster, Fiji, and Romania.

The opportunity of Major League Rugby will see the players receiving vital game time to be seasoned for the highly challenging pool that await Los Teros in Japan.

Uruguay will face Fiji, Georgia, Australia, and Wales in this order. The first and second matches are to have just three days in between. More players featuring in professional environments between now and then is paramount to lifting Uruguay’s chances.

Following RWC 2019 Uruguay’s same players will have the opportunity to play professional rugby at home. The Liga Americana de Rugby is to have two Uruguayan teams and contracts will be on offer to the same Uruguayan players set to play Major League Rugby.

With Europe being a complicated destination Major League Rugby offers a sensible route for both Uruguayan players and Uruguay itself to have a superior level performance than in England and Wales in RWC 2015.