Uruguay

In December 2015, Meneses was unveiled as the new head coach for the Uruguayan national team, replacing Pablo Lemoine who had been in charge since 2012.^[4] Meneses joined the Uruguayan Rugby Union as a direct recommendation from the then Argentine head coach, Daniel Hourcade.^[5] Meneses would lead Uruguay into a new era, after the union was granted promotion to Tier 2 status, having been a Tier 3 nation since the tiered system had been introduced.

His first match in charge was against Canada in the inaugural 2016 Americas Rugby Championship, which Canada won 33–17. Meneses gained his first victory a week later in São Paulo, defeating Brazil 33–29. After narrowly losing to Argentina XV 24–21 in Round 3, Uruguay went back-to-back for the first time under Meneses, defeating Chile 23–20, before knocking over the United States, for the first time since 2002, 29–25, to finish fourth overall. Uruguay continued this form into the 2016 South American Rugby Championship "A", winning all three matches to reclaim the South American Rugby Championship title they had lost the previous year to Chile. This meant their secured a position in the 2016 Sudamérica Rugby Cup, finishing second behind Argentina, who they had lost to 18–8 in round 2.

During the 2016 World Rugby Nations Cup, Uruguay struggled to put together a consistent form, after narrowly losing in the opening round to Emerging Italy 26–24 and being completed outranked by eventual champions Romania 40–0 in round 2. Had it not been for a 16–0 victory over Spain in the final round, Uruguay would have finished bottom for the first time since their appearance in 2008.^[6] The 2016 November test window saw Uruguay tour Europe for their first ever 3-test tour, which saw Uruguay lose all three tests; Germany (24–21), Spain (33–16) and Romania (36–10).

2017 was an important year for Uruguay, as it was 2019 Rugby World Cup Americas Qualification year for the leading nations in the Americas. The year started promising, with an improved Americas Rugby Championship campaign, finishing third with wins over Brazil, Chile and a first win over Canada since 2002. However the result in the 2017 South American Rugby Championship "A" was the all important Qualification tournament, and with three successful victories over the participating nations, Brazil, Chile and Paraguay, Uruguay advanced to the Americas Repechage play-offs against Canada.^[7]

In June 2017, the 2017 World Rugby Nations Cup was held outside Romania for the first time and Uruguay were grated as hosts.^[8] The home advantage proved successful, with Meneses leading Uruguay to Champions for the first time; after they defeated Emerging Italy 30–21, Russia 32–29 and Spain 24–14.^[9] Their form continued into the 2017 November tests, with a 2–0 series win over Namibia. The first test was a record 52–36 win, however Namibia were a stronger force in the second test, only narrowly losing to Uruguay 39–34.

In February 2018, Meneses led his team to 2019 Rugby World Cup qualification, after successfully beating Canada 2–0 over a two-leg qualification play-off, 70–60 on aggregate.^[10] The 38–29 victory in Canada, was the first time Uruguay had beaten Canada in Canada. Following this, Uruguay maintained their third-place finish in the 2018 Americas Rugby Championship, with defeats to Argentina XV and the United States, and later went onto retain the 2018 World Rugby Nations Cup in June that year.^[11] The 2018 November test window saw Uruguay win one lose one during the tour; defeating Romania 27–20, whilst losing to Fiji 68–7.

During the 2019 Americas Rugby Championship, Uruguay recorded their best ever finished of second in the Championship. This came with Uruguay defeating all but one team - Champions Argentina XV - during the Championship, including a victory over the United States in Tukwila, Washington. Uruguay continued this form into the 2019 World Rugby Nations Cup, taking away the title for the third consecutive year. However, in an additional Rugby World Cup warm-up match against Spain, Spain recorded their largest winning victory over Los Teros, winning 41–21.

The 2019 Rugby World Cup started with a surprising 30-27 win from Uruguay over Fiji on 25 September. It was Uruguay’s first World Cup win in 16 years.