'Our objective is to achieve first place, so we know the pressure'

Uruguay Sevens ace James McCubbin said he is pleased with his team’s two-from-two display that booked their place in the quarter-finals of the HSBC Challenger Series in Munich.

The top four-placed men’s Sevens teams in the Bavarian capital will secure their spots in the promotion and relegation play-off competition at the SVNS Grand Final in Madrid.

Uruguay entered the weekend as the leading team in the series standings and are favourites to be one of the final four teams to make the playoffs in the Spanish capital.

“Yeah, we are qualified for the quarterfinals. It’s the objective we have today, so we’re very happy that we achieved our goal today,” McCubbin told RugbyPass pitchside. “We trained very, very hard these six weeks since the last tournament in Montevideo. And watching the results of our training, it’s quite nice, and we are finding our game.

“Our objective is to achieve first place, so we know the pressure, we are familiar with it, we like it, so we embrace it.”

The ultimate aim is to break back into the HSBC SVNS series proper.

“Well, that’s our objective [getting back on the HSBC SVNS circuit]. Last year it was very tough to descend and play again in the Challenger, but it’s our opportunity to go back to the series, and we are working every day for that goal, so we have that aim and we are doing everything to be there.”

Should they make Madrid – which is looking likely- they will play at Atletico Madrid’s stadium.

“I like it, there are a lot of feelings that go with being in that stadium, so big with such great history, so it’s a big responsibility for each player that is on that field, playing and having this Uruguayan shirt.’

Uruguay look likely to face three out of Kenya, Chile, Hong Kong China and Germany from the Challenger Series in Madrid, should they get the job done on Day 2 in Munich.