Uruguay’s captain relives historic SVNS wins over Fiji and New Zealand

The game already decided, captain Diego Ardao told his kicker to kick the penalty and add three more points. The clock was already in red as Juan Manuel Tafernaberry secured the win by 17-12.

“I ran like hell in case it bounced off the upright,” smiles Ardao, one of the hardest grafters in the HSBC SVNS, of those crazy final seconds against New Zealand 7s.

Never before had Uruguay beaten a New Zealand team, be it in fifteens or sevens. That it came a handful of hours after beating series leaders Fiji for only the second time in history put Uruguay in an unknown place.

Los Teros 7s have previously beaten Fiji in the SVNS and with the New Zealand scalp, there are very few teams they haven’t beaten so far – France, Australia amongst others. Argentina was beaten back in 2012 when Uruguay won its only Sudamericano de Sevens in the heat of Río de Janeiro. Never in the Series, though.

Starting any tournament against Fiji is always tough. In Cape Town, the Pacific Islanders had beaten a renovated Teros 7s side, under a new coach, 70-5. In a way, opening in Perth against them brought no real pressure to win, which was beneficial for the South Americans.

“In that big loss, we gave up,” recalls Ardao. “This time, even going down 17-0 by halftime, we never felt we were lost. We were under no pressure and things started to happen.”

Celebrations were natural but not over the top as the All Blacks Sevens were next. Even if this is New Zealand team is not setting the world ablaze with their rugby, it is still a black jersey.

“Once again, there was no pressure to win even if we play to win every time and we did exactly that. It is about getting better. We had possession, we were patient and we remained calm.”

Pressure was on the All Blacks 7s, who were tackled constantly, attacked at the breakdown and saw every one of their mistakes pounced on, such as the winning try when MacGarvey-Black threw a loose pass and Uruguay counterattacked for Ignacio Rodríguez to score on the other end.

SVNS PERTH: After beating Fiji earlier on day one, Uruguay made more sevens history with a famous win over New Zealand on Friday afternoon.#HSBCSVNS #HSBCSVNSPER https://t.co/PtMH71h6mf

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 24, 2025

WHAT A DAY FOR URUGUAY RUGBY! 🤯@Teros7s earn their first ever win against New Zealand 🇺🇾#HSBCSVNS | #HSBCSVNSPER pic.twitter.com/oT0OdCTRLY

— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) January 24, 2025

Tafernaberry added the second angled conversion to take the lead which he later stretched with a last-second penalty.

“As with Fiji, only when the final whistle went did I believe we’d won,” says Ardao.

“It felt incredible. Every first is great; our goal continues to be the best version of ourselves and find a way to stay in the Series for another year.”

Ardao, a qualified doctor who put his profession aside whilst focusing on sevens, led the team when they first qualified for the SVNS Series in 2022. A great leader, when interviewed right after the game that gave them their ticket in Santiago, Chile, he proceeded to read the names of every player that had been with Uruguay Sevens in the process that led to the Series.

Their first season in the HSBC SVNS was the last with sixteen teams and they came painstakingly close to staying on board for a second season when it was cut down to twelve nations. After a hiatus, they are back and hoping to retain their status for next season.

Previous coach Ivo Dugonjic moved to fifteens and now leads Super Rugby Americas’ franchise Peñarol Rugby. His assistant last season, former Tero and Tero 7s Gabriel ‘Tambor’ Puig is now at the helm, with a team that only retained four or five regulars from the team that competed in the Olympic Games in Paris last July.

“It was an easy transition as an adaptation with ‘Tambor’ was seamless; he knew us, knew the system. It was about bringing the new players on board.”

Players come from the Uruguayan club system and from the U20s assembly line. The vision is clear: sevens is a platform to develop players.

“Everyone is happy about being here. The standard of competition is high, playing in the Series is great. The group will be together all the way to Los Angeles for the season’s finale.”

Unfortunately, Uruguay failed to build on the two opening day wins and lost the remaining three games, which shows that they still need consistency if they are to avoid competing for survival with four hungry teams coming from the Challenger Series.

“It is about how we prepare, about working hard in practice, keeping our focus high. We have to be the best version of ourselves.”

Uruguay and Argentina, basically a 40-minute flight away from each other, are arguably the teams that travel the most, something Ardao fails to get accustomed to.

So, when an extra day at the tournament venue is on, then it is a bonus.

“We normally leave straight after the end of a tournament, but in beautiful Perth, we had an extra day due to flights which was great.”

The squad took the ferry to Rottnest Island and “we did stuff we can never do ahead of an event, like riding bicycles for 20 kilometres, relax in incredible beaches and feel like tourists.”

“It allowed us to lose the mental focus and recover from the tiredness. It was a great day.”

Unforgettable? Probably. But what will Ardao never forget?

“That final kick and the final whistle against New Zealand.”