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The Nations Cup enters uncharted territory. With Romania touring the USA and Japan this year’s competition is historic. Not only will Romania not take part but it will be played outside of Europe for the first time, with Uruguay’s home base of the Estadio Charrúa in Montevideo selected as the venue for all nine matches. Portugal hosted the first edition in 2006 while Romania the did so from 2007-2016.
Saturday will see Los Teros play in the third match of the day, taking on Emerging Italy. Opening the tournament will be the only full-on test match of the day with Namibia facing Spain in what should be a very competitive affair. The Argentina XV will do battle in Russia in the second match. All four senior sides award caps in the tournament but matches against the Argentina XV or Emerging Italy will not count towards the official World Rugby Rankings.
Detailed roster lists, tables, and fixtures can be seen here.
All matches will be streamed live by World Rugby.
NAMIBIA (19) vs SPAIN (18)
Saturday, Jun 10, 11:00, Montevideo
The only true test match of the weekend sees two countries that have tasted the World Cup in head-to-head combat. Namibia rely heavily on the South African domestic system to develop many of their players while Spain lean on France both for Spanish-eligible players and club contracts.
Formidable No 8 Renaldo Bothma will lead the side, currently of the Bulls but headed to Harlequins and the Aviva Premiership next season. He will be joined by five others who have appeared in Super Rugby this season. Cheetahs front row pair Torsten van Jaarsveld and Aranos Coetzee will set a platform for Sharks center Johan Deysel and Kings speedsters Johann Tromp and Chrysander Botha to attack.
Top points scorer Theuns Kotzé will act as vice-captain from his usual flyhalf spot and there is further top professional experience from Glasgow Warriors second row Tjiuee Uanivi and Bayonne utility forward PJ van Lill who starts on the blindside flank. Mahepisa Tjeriko and Lesley Klim, two of the four starts who play their rugby in Namibia, are set to make their test debuts while two more new caps in Johan Retief and Cliven Loubser on the bench.
Spain have opted for out-and-out pace in their backline with Maçon winger Ignacio Contardi named at outside center and Dijon flyhalf Andrea Rabago set to make his international debut at inside center. New Zealand-born fullback Brad Linklater is one of only three players in the side who play their rugby in Spain, the others hooker Juan Anaya and Fijian second row Carlos Gavidi.
Former France u20 prop Jean-Baptiste Custoja makes his debut in the No 1 jersey and with Albi flanker Fred Quercy also to debut. Two further uncapped players are among the reserves. No 8 Afa Tauli, a former New Zealand age-grade international, and halfback Emiliano Calle Rivas, an Argentinean who plays his rugby in Romania.
The two teams have played against each other on five previous occasions, with Spain winning three. Most recently Namibia defeated Spain by 34-32 in the 2016 Nations Cup played in Bucharest.
NAMIBIA
1 Casper Viviers, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 4 Mahepisa Tjeriko, 5 Tjiuee Uanivi, 6 Wian Conradie, 7 PJ van Lill, 8 Renaldo Bothma (capt.), 9 Eugene Jantjies, 10 Theuns Kotzé, 11 Johann Tromp, 12 Johan Deysel, 13 JC Greyling, 14 Lesley Klim, 15 Chrysander Botha
Replacements: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 AJ de Klerk, 18 Collen Smith, 19 Johan Retief, 20 Christo van der Merwe, 21 Damian Stevens, 22 Cliven Loubser, 23 Darryl de la Harpe
SPAIN
1 Jean-Baptiste Custoja, 2 Juan Anaya, 3 Jon Zabala, 4 Carlos Gavidi, 5 Victor Sánchez, 6 Gautier Gibouin, 7 Fred Quercy, 8 Jaime Nava (capt.), 9 Grégory Maiquez, 10 Dan Snee, 11 Jordi Jorba, 12 Andrea Rabago, 13 Ignacio Contardi, 14 Brice Labadie, 15 Brad Linklater
Replacements: 16 Fernando López, 17 Daniel Marrón, 18 Alberto Blanco, 19 Matt Foulds, 20 Lucas Guillaume, 21 Afa Tauli, 22 Emiliano Calle Rivas, 23 Federico Castiglioni
ARGENTINA XV (9) vs RUSSIA (20)
Saturday, June 10, 13;15, Montevideo
Four years on from the Argentina XV and Russia face again in the Nations Cup. The prior fixture, in 2013, saw the South Americans winning 30-17 in Bucharest. On year prior to that the Argentina XV won 33-9. Their remaining match-up was in 2006. On that occasion the Argentina XV won 64-6.
Such fixtures helped launch the careers of a number of players. These include past and present Pumas. Among them are Horacio Agulla, Gonzalo Bertranou, Marcelo Bosch, Jerónimo de la Fuente, Santiago García Botta, Santiago González Iglesias, Juan Imhoff, and Joaquín Tuculet.
The Pumas of tomorrow now have an opportunity to press forward. Head Coach Felipe Contepomi has named a strong side to face Russia. Several Jaguares wider squad members are set to take part. Cristian Bartoloni, Juan Cruz Guillemaín, Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, Felipe Ezcurra, and Ignacio Larrague will all start. All are fringe players for Los Pumas.
Others yet to feature in Super Rugby but being within the margins are to also play. Lautaro Bavaro, Julián Domínguez, and Francisco Gorrissen are such cases in point. There are also notable names among the replacements. Combined this makes the Argentina XV are highly formidable side.
Russian Head Coach Alexander Pervukhin has heavily utilized players from Siberian clubs Enisei STM and Krasny Yar. So much so that 20 of the 28 are from these sides.
The side features the 89-time capped Yuri Kushnarev at flyhalf. Viktor Gresev has the same number and will cover back row from the bench. Additional experience comes with captain Vasili Artemiev and Andrei Temnov, they start at fullback and flanker respectively. Both have over 50 caps.
There is also youth on the roster. This includes Russian u20 players Alexander Budychenko, Kirill Gubin, Evgeni Mishechkin, and Vladimir Suslov.
ARGENTINA XV
1 Franco Brarda, 2 Gaspar Baldunciel, 3 Cristian Bartoloni, 4 Juan Cruz Guillemaín, 5 Ignacio Larrague, 6 Francisco Gorrissen, 7 Lautaro Bavaro (capt.), 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 9 Felipe Ezcurra, 10 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 11 Segundo Tuculet, 12 Bruno Devoto, 13 Juan Cappiello, 14 Julián Domínguez, 15 Fernando Luna
Replacements: 16 Roberto Tejerizo, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Santiago Portillo, 20 Santiago Montagner, 21 Lautaro Bazán, 22 Martín Elías, 23 Franco Cuaranta
RUSSIA
1 Andrei Polivalov, 2 Stanislav Selskiy, 3 Azamat Bitiev, 4 Dmitri Krotov, 5 Bogdan Fedotko, 6 Andrei Temnov, 7 Tagir Gadzhiev, 8 Anton Rudoi, 9 Konstantin Uzunov, 10 Yuri Kushnarev, 11 Alexei Mikhaltsov, 12 Dmitri Gerasimov, 13 Kirill Gubin, 14 Denis Simplikevich, 15 Vasili Artemiev (capt.)
Replacements: 16 Sergei Chernyshev, 17 Valeri Morozov, 18 Vladimir Podrezov, 19 Vladimir Suslov, 20 Viktor Gresev, 21 Alexei Shcherban, 22 Vladimir Rudenko, 23 Ramil Gaisin
Referee: Vlad Iordachescu (FRR)
URUGUAY (21) vs EMERGING ITALY (15)
Saturday, June 10, 15:30, Montevideo
The hosts are matched up against Emerging Italy, a team comprised of the most promising players in the Italian Eccellenza with only a couple exceptions. Nearly every player has represented Italy at age-grade level with their lone capped player, Sebastian Negri, named as captain. The backline contains plenty of pace and power with flyhalf Maicol Azzolini and midfielder Enrico Lucchin tipped for higher honors.
Up front there is a meaty front row backed by second and back rows designed more for mobility. Loosehead prop Derrick Appiah plays his rugby in England while tighthead George Iacob has slipped through the fingers of the Romanian selectors.
Los Teros have named a strong side but head coach Esteban Meneses has opted to give time to some reserve players with no World Rankings points on the line. Matías Benítez gets his first start since 2010 and Manuel Diana his first ever run-out with the senior side. Santiago Arata and German Albanell return at the halfbacks and Gaston Gibernau is on the right wing. Hooker German Kessler starts for the first time since the 2016 Nations Cup after missing much of the last year with injury.
The reserves boast heaps of experience in first choice props Mateo Sanguinetti and Mario Sagario and with Menses opting for a 6-2 split there is space for both Alejandro Nieto and Santiago Hernandez to cover the back row. Guillermo Lijtenstein covers scrumhalf while national u20 captain Agustín Della Corte is set to win his first cap as a midfield replacement.
URUGUAY
1 Matías Benítez, 2 Germán Kessler, 3 Juan Echeverría, 4 Diego Magno, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.), 7 Gonzalo Soto, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Santiago Arata, 10 Germán Albanell, 11 Leandro Leivas, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Juan Manuel Cat, 14 Gastón Gibernau, 15 Rodrigo Silva
Replacements: 16 Facundo Gattas, 17 Mateo Sanguinetti, 18 Mario Sagario, 19 Ignacio Dotti, 20 Alejandro Nieto, 21 Santiago Hernández, 22 Guillermo Lijtenstein, 23 Agustín Della Corte
EMERGING ITALY
1 Derrick Appiah, 2 Engjel Makelara, 3 George Iacob, 4 Samuele Ortis, 5 Leonard Krumov, 6 Matteo Corazzi, 7 Sebastian Negri (capt.), 8 Renato Giammarioli, 9 Simone Marinaro, 10 Maicol Azzolini, 11 Marco Susio, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 13 Andrea Bettin, 14 Pierre Bruno, 15 Filippo Buscema
Replacements: 16 Adriano Daniele, 17 Niccolò Zago, 18 Roberto Tenga, 19 Davide Fragnito, 20 Mirko Amenta, 21 Leonardo Mantelli, 22 Pietro Gregorio, 23 Giacomo De Santis
