Uruguay v Fiji teams named

The third and final match of Fiji’s South American tour sees the Warriors face Uruguay in a non-capped international on Sunday afternoon in Montevideo. The previous match, played last Saturday, saw Fiji beat Los Teros 30-22. This weekend’s match will be contested for the Copa Scotiabank but more importantly is a preview of the Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool A fixture in at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes.

Coming off a 23-21 upset victory over Argentina on Wednesday, Fiji is looking to complete a perfect tour by winning at the Estadio Charrúa on Sunday. Doing so will require a strong performance given the high demands of playing twice in the space of five days. In an effort to give themselves the best possible opportunity Fiji has made eight changes.

Uruguay is also a changed side, most notably with scrum half Agustín Ormaechea back from France to start the match. His club, Mont-de-Marsan, lost the Pro D2 final 16-15 to favorites Agen on Sunday in a match featuring veteran Chilean Sergio Valdes and Canadian Taylor Paris. In returning to Uruguay, Ormaechea will now remain with the squad until the completion of the World Cup.

Ormaechea’s return is highly significant for Uruguay and four others have also been added – Nicolás Klappenbach, Alejo Corral, Matías Beer and Manuel Blengio. The team is, however, not at full strength as the likes of Rodrigo Capó Ortega and Felipe Berchesi remain outside of the squad for the time being. They should all be a part of the test match against Argentina on August 1, Uruguay’s final home match before the big tournament.

Shortly after facing the Warriors, Uruguay’s test team is to travel to Georgia to take-part in the 2015 Tbilisi Cup. The four team competition will see the test teams of Georgia and Uruguay being joined by the ‘A’ teams from both Ireland and Italy. In July Uruguay’s players will undergo a reconditioning program before hosting Argentina and then departing to play matches against Japan and a Basque XV before debuting against Wales in Cardiff in the opening weekend of the World Cup.

URUGUAY
1 Alejo Corral, 2 Nicolás Klappenbach, 3 Mario Sagario, 4 Santiago Vilaseca (capt.), 5 Jorge Zerbino, 6 Matías Beer, 7 Diego Magno, 8 Agustín Alonso, 9 Agustín Ormaechea, 10 Manuel Blengio, 11 Joaquín Prada, 12 Alberto Román, 13 Santiago Gibernau, 14 Francisco Bulanti, 15 Rodrigo Silva

Replacements: 16 Oscar Durán, 17 Germán Kessler, 18 Rodolfo de Mula, 19 Mathias Palomeque, 20 Fernando Bascou, 21 Mathias Braun, 22 Alejo Durán, 23 Andrés Vilaseca

Head Coach: Pablo Lemoine

FIJI WARRIORS
1 Peni Ravai, 2 Jale Sassen, 3 Lee-Roy Atalifo, 4 Apisai Naikatini, 5 Savenaca Tabakanalagi, 6 Timoci Sauvoli, 7 Johnny Dyer, 8 Jolame Bera, 9 Serupepeli Vularika, 10 Kini Douglas, 11 Josaia Quminakelo, 12 Eroni Vasiteri (capt.), 13 John Stewart, 14 Nacani Wakaya, 15 Tikilaci Vuibau

Replacements: 16 Sireli Ledua, 17 Joeli Veitayaki, 18 Taniela Koroi, 19 Mataiasi Ucutabua, 20 Malakai Namalo, 21 Emori Waqa, 22 Saimoni Tuilaucala, 23 Sam Speight

Head Coach: Senirusi Seruvakula