Match Preview – Uruguay vs Brazil

Uruguay are taking no chances for their South American ‘A’ Championship match against Brazil on Saturday. With the Championship doubling as a World Cup Qualifier the stakes are high and Los Teros have opted for their strongest available lineup to face the Tupis, making four changes to the team that defeated Paraguay 45-19.

Two of those are injury-enforced as Alejandro Nieto and Nicolás Freitas have been ruled out. Regular captain Juan Manuel Gaminara has recovered sufficiently from his own injury to take up a spot on the flank with Gonzalo Soto moving to Nieto’s No 8 position, and Manuel Diana provides cover from the bench with Santiago Hernández dropping out of the match day squad completely. Leandro Leivas is recalled on the wing in the absence of Freitas.

The other two changes are significant, with giant lock Manuel Leindekar earning his first test start in place of  Diego Magno, and World Cup flyhalf Felipe Berchesi returning to the team following his season in the French Pro D2. The late arrival of his usual halfback partner Agustín Ormaechea during the week sees the scrumhalf among the reserves with youngster Santiago Arata instead retained in the starting lineup.

Brazil did not enjoy their match in Santiago, losing 15-10 and only rarely finding any success on attack. Head Coach Rodolfo Ambrosio has responded with four changes to the starting team, discarding some while handing others another chance in Montevideo. Desterro prop Pedro Bengaló has been summoned to help shore up the scrum as he bumps Caíque Silva to the bench with Matheus Rocha left out. Injury sees Arthur Bergo missing out and veteran João Luiz da Ros recalled in his place on the flank, with another former captain in Matheus Daniel summoned to the replacements.

The backs are largely the same but there is a reshuffle out wide where Daniel Sancery is strangely swapped to the wing and Laurent Bourda-Couhet named at fullback. Stefano Giantorno replaces Lucas Tranquez on the left wing, with De Wet van Niekerk following Tranquez to the bench. It leaves a highly unusual backs reserve with all three players – Tranquez, van Niekerk, and Robert Tenório – all preferred on the wing at international level.

While the Tupis have undoubtedly improved in the past couple of years their chances of upsetting Uruguay on their home soil look slim. Brazil have not defeated their southern neighbors since 1964, a stretch of 19 consecutive losses, though they did run Los Teros close during the 2016 Americas Rugby Championship with only a four-point loss in São Paulo. Given the return of Berchesi and Ormaechea and plenty of experience on the bench, Uruguay should be considered heavy favorites once again.

The match kicks off at 3:30pm local time and will be streamed live by the CBRu.

 

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Martín Espiga, 3 Juan Echeverría, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.), 7 Franco Lamanna, 8 Gonzalo Soto, 9 Santiago Arata, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 11 Gastón Mieres, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Juan Manuel Cat, 14 Leandro Leivas, 15 Rodrigo Silva

Replacements: 16 Facundo Gattas, 17 Matías Benítez, 18 Mario Sagario, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Manuel Diana, 21 Agustín Ormaechea, 22 Germán Albanell, 23 Gastón Gibernau

BRAZIL
1 Jonatas Paulo, 2 Yan Rosetti, 3 Pedro Bengaló, 4 Lucas Piero, 5 Gabriel Paganini, 6 João Luiz da Ros, 7 André Arruda, 8 Nick Smith (capt.), 9 Lucas Duque, 10 Josh Reeves, 11 Stefano Giantorno, 12 Moisés Duque, 13 Felipe Sancery, 14 Daniel Sancery, 15 Laurent Bourda-Couhet

Replacements: 16 Luan Almeida, 17 Lucas Abud, 18 Caíque Silva, 19 Cléber Dias, 20 Matheus Daniel, 21 Lucas Tranquez, 22 De Wet van Niekerk, 23 Robert Tenório

 

Date: Saturday, May 20
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Kickoff: 15:30 local (14:30 Eastern, 11:30 Pacific)
Referee: Juan Sylvestre (UAR)
Assistants: Federico Japas (UAR) & Nahuel Jauri Rivero (UAR)
Broadcasts: Live Stream