World Ranking: 19

COACH: Dr Daniel Herrera. Boasts a reputation as a very fine coach and will provide the pivotal driving force in ensuring Uruguay's presence in the World Cup Finals - they beat Morocco over two legs to get there. He has made Los Teros traditional forward orientated game less one dimensional. Noted as a keen student of rugby and in focussing on the opposition, he will already have devised game-plans for the respective matches. Will need a blindfold for the Scotland and South Africa matches.

Tactical turn: Rely heavily on their pack, a trait common to most South American teams. Have tried to develop quick rucking skills to compliment the more traditional power based mauling. Will have targeted the Spanish game as one they should win while trying for damage limitation in the others. Ran the USA very close (21-16) in the qualifying competition but lacked subtlety behind the scrum.

STAR TURN: Diego Ormaechea. The Uruguayan number eight will be the oldest player in the tournament at 40, when he leads out his side against Spain in the opening match at Galashiels. He scored nine tries in pre-qualification including a crucial late score against Morocco in the repechage final, first leg in Montevideo. Strong, powerful and a focal point for attacks, Ormaechea will shoulder a large responsibility when Uruguay play their crucial fixture against Spain.

VERDICT: Probably the best of the newcomers to the World Cup Finals. Were decidedly unlucky to lose to the USA (21-16) in the initial qualifying stages and ran Fiji to 15 points (39-24) in a four-team tournament in L'Aquila. During that same event they beat Spain with whom they find themselves in Pool A. Winning that match would be the limit of their potential. After that simply a case of fingers crossed against Scotland and South Africa.

FINAL THOUGHTS: "We intend to improve qualitatively and quantitatively and to that end better our rugby and continue to compete at this level."

- Pablo Ferrari (Team manager, Uruguay).