World Rugby confirmed last October that Uruguay would be given a seat on the Council after meeting necessary standards of governance, and the union took that seat at a meeting today.

Due to travel restrictions in place because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Council met virtually.

Uruguay is the latest Tier 2 nation to gain representation on the World Rugby Council since the global governing body unveiled plans to expand it in 2015 as part of its governance reforms.

All six regional associations were given two votes rather than one, while Fiji, Samoa, the United States, Romania and Georgia all now have a Council representative.

With Uruguay joining that list, the Council has now grown from having 27 members when the reforms were announced to 52.

"This is an important day for the Unión de Rugby del Uruguay," de Posades declared. 

"We are encouraging and pushing ourselves to be the best we can be on and off the field, and a seat at Council ensures that our voice will be heard in the decision-making process, which is great for Uruguay and South American rugby.

"We look forward to continue working for the game in our country, region and around the globe."

The 10 Tier 1 Nations - those that compete in the Six Nations and Rugby Championship - still control 30 of the Council's 52 votes.

The Council votes in World Rugby's chairmanship election, is responsible for deciding host countries for Rugby World Cups and also governs the sport.

It recently voted by a margin of 28 to 23 to elect Sir Bill Beaumont to take a second term as chairman, having seen off a challenge from Agustín Pichot.

The chairman sits on the Council but does not vote and said he was "delighted to officially welcome Fernando to his first Council meeting."

Sir Bill added: "Uruguay is a leading light of South American rugby and a growing presence on the world stage. 

"We look forward to their contributions in this forum to the continued growth of the sport."

One decision taken by the council today was to amend rules on scoring against the post protector.

Until now, grounding the ball against the post protector resulted in a try, but it will no longer do so.

With the size of protectors growing for safety and sponsorship reasons, it was felt that this regulation gave an unfair advantage to attackers.

The rules will change with immediate effect.