Montevideo (AFP)
The feat of Uruguay against Fiji at the World Rugby has had an unprecedented impact in this small South American country where football reigns supreme and where most of the players of the XV national are amateurs.
Wednesday in Kamaishi, "Los Teros", nickname of the Uruguay team in reference to a small endemic bird of the country, created the first surprise of the Japanese World Cup and achieved the biggest feat of their history by beating Fiji, tenth world nation (before their defeat), 30 to 27.
It is also the third Uruguay Rugby World Cup victory in four appearances, after 1999 against Spain and 2003 against Georgia.
A feat for a country where this sport has barely 10.000 licensed for a little more than 3 million inhabitants, of which a good part are students of elitist private schools.
"They were 15 to 1 at the bookmakers, and they won!" Exulted a bus driver from Montevideo after learning the result, fell in the middle of the night in the South American country.
On the radio and in the press, sports commentators, more accustomed to narrate the performance of the national football team, the "Celeste" in reference to the blue sky of his jersey, were suddenly passionate about the oval ball.
"Historic Los Teros have blown the rugby world and beat Fiji," headlined the online edition of the Uruguayan newspaper El Pais.
"We are all involved in this story, those who follow Los Teros for a long time and those who do not know much about rugby but who, in front of a shirt + celeste + on the screen, do not doubt", wrote in El Observador the journalist Ignacio Chans, author of a book on the national selection.
For the Teros, whose goal was to leave Japan with at least one victory, the mission is now to garner a second against Georgia, theoretically the team the most in their reach.
This would allow them to win third place in Group C, behind the unattainable Welsh and Australians, and therefore to qualify for the next edition.
"We are neither the biggest nor the biggest, but we have come here to win, we have been preparing for this for four years," said tears in the eyes of Uruguayan captain and third-row amateur Juan Manuel. Gaminara.
© 2019 AFP