Uruguay feel they have already “written history” in this Rugby World Cup after an historic win over Fiji and want to prove they have another shock in them as they prepare to face Australia.
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.
Australia played Uruguay in the last World Cup, beating them 63-5 in Birmingham with a string of big names rested.
This time around, the Wallabies have rotated many of their stars as well, though notably captain Michael Hooper is starting, but they will be expecting a more evolved outfit than that of that 2015 outfit.
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 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,” he said.
“We haven’t just just prepared for the Fiji and Georgia matches but also against a team like Australia and Wales.”
Asked what it would take to beat Australia, Pastore said the needed to be at their best in every aspect of the game.
“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.
“We need to look after our attack and defence and we think we are in a very good moment to make a very good match tomorrow.”
Australia takes on Uruguay at Oita Stadium on Saturday October 5, kicking off at 2:15pm local, 3:15pm AEST, LIVE on Foxtel, Network Ten and via RUGBY.com.au RADIO, Rugby Xplorer and Amazon Alexa.
