World Rugby Nations Cup – Round 2 Preview

An exciting first round saw two upsets as Spain defeated Namibia in the only true test match of the round and Russia edge past the Argentina XV in a high-scoring thriller. Hosts Uruguay were comfortable winners over Emerging Italy.

The second round again features just one match with World Rugby Rankings points at risk as Los Teros try to bring a swift halt to Russia’s momentum. Namibia will look to redeem themselves against Emerging Italy in the day’s opener, and the Argentina XV will do battle with Spain.

Detailed roster lists, tables, and fixtures can be seen here.

All matches will be streamed live by World Rugby.

 

NAMIBIA (20) vs EMERGING ITALY (15)
Wednesday, Jun 14, 11:00, Montevideo

After a disappointing loss to Spain on Saturday the Welwitschias will be desperate to make amends against the Italians. Seven changes have been made to the starting lineup, suggesting that coach Phil Davies is very much taking this game seriously.

Collen Smith, normally a tighthead prop, starts at loosehead with Louis van der Westhuizen running out beside him at hooker. Towering second row Ruan Ludick comes in for Mahepisa Tjeriko and there are two new flankers in openside Christo van der Merwe and blindside Janco Venter.

Diminutive Sharks academy halfback Damian Stevens replaces the experienced Eugene Jantjies, and veteran Darryl de la Harpe starts in the midfield. The only change out wide sees Gino Wilson on the wing and Johann Tromp sliding to fullback.

Gianluca Guidi has taken a very different approach to his Emerging Italy side, changing only four from the team that slumped to defeat against Uruguay. Captain Sebastian Negri is out of the tourney with injury while Samuele Ortis, Andrea Bettin are dropped to the bench and Marco Susio absent completely. Simone Marinaro will take over the captaincy in Negri’s absence.

Riccardo Michieletto starts at lock and Mirko Amenta at the back of the scrum with Renato Giammarioli shifting to the flank. Giacomo De Santis takes Susio’s spot on the wing and Matteo Gabbianelli is in at outside center.

NAMIBIA
1 Collen Smith, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 3 Aranos Coetzee, 4 Ruan Ludick, 5 Tjiuee Uanivi, 6 Christo van der Merwe, 7 Janco Venter, 8 Renaldo Bothma (capt.), 9 Damian Stevens, 10 Theuns Kotzé, 11 Gino Wilson, 12 Darryl de la Harpe, 13 JC Greyling, 14 Lesley Klim, 15 Johann Tromp

Replacements: 16 Shaun du Preez, 17 AJ de Klerk, 18 Casper Viviers, 19 PJ van Lill, 20 Wian Conradie, 21 Eugene Jantjies, 22 Cliven Loubser, 23 Justin Newman

EMERGING ITALY
1 Derrick Appiah, 2 Engjel Makelara, 3 George Iacob, 4 Riccardo Michieletto, 5 Leonard Krumov, 6 Matteo Corazzi, 7 Renato Giammarioli, 8 Mirko Amenta, 9 Simone Marinaro (capt.), 10 Maicol Azzolini, 11 Giacomo De Santis, 12 Enrico Lucchin, 13 Matteo Gabbianelli, 14 Pierre Bruno, 15 Filippo Buscema

Replacements: 16 Adriano Daniele, 17 Paolo Buonfiglio, 18 Roberto Tenga, 19 Samuele Ortis, 20 Luca Nostran, 21 Pietro Gregorio, 22 Andrea Bettin, 23 Gabriele Mangeniello

 

 

ARGENTINA XV (9) vs SPAIN (18)
Wednesday, June 14, 13;15, Montevideo

It’s all change for the Argentina XV as only three players survive from the 39-38 upset loss to Russia in the opening round. Francisco Ferronato, Roberto Tejerizo, and Facundo Gigena are the new front row with Pedro Ortega added to the second row. Belgrano hooker Agustín Gómez Di Nardo is called up to the squad to replace the injured Gaspar Baldunciel.

The loose forwards are comprised of Mariano Romanini, Santiago Montagner, and Santiago Portillo. Regular skipper Lautaro Bavaro is moved to the bench so midfielder Juan Cappiello assumes the captaincy. Lautaro Bazán steps in at scrumhalf in place of Felipe Ezcurra.

In the backline Santiago Mare earns his first start in for the Argentina XV and the wingers are both swapped out with Franco Cuaranta and Franco Sábato set to start. Martín Elías runs out at fullback after coming on as a replacement for Fernando Luna against Russia.

Spain also make sweeping changes despite the impressive win over Namibia. Only captain Jaime Nava is retained in the pack though he switches to the flank with Afa Tauli taking over at No 8. Fernando López, Daniel Marrón, and Alberto Blanco are the new front row and behind them Manuel Mora and Matt Foulds slot in at lock. Lucas Guillaume completes the loose forward trio.

New halfbacks are nominated in Tomás Munilla and Álvar Gimeno. Iñaki Mateu is named at outside center with Ignacio Contardi switching to the left wing and Federico Casteglioni on the right.

ARGENTINA XV
1 Francisco Ferronato, 2 Roberto Tejerizo, 3 Facundo Gigena, 4 Pedro Ortega, 5 Ignacio Larrague, 6 Mariano Romanini, 7 Santiago Montagner, 8 Santiago Portillo, 9 Lautaro Bazán, 10 Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, 11 Franco Cuaranta, 12 Santiago Mare, 13 Juan Cappiello (capt.), 14 Franco Sábato, 15 Martín Elías

Replacements: 16 Agustín Gómez Di Nardo, 17 Franco Brarda, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Juan Cruz Guillemaín, 20 Lautaro Bavaro, 21 Felipe Ezcurra, 22 Bruno Devoto, 23 Fernando Luna

SPAIN
1 Fernando López, 2 Daniel Marrón, 3 Alberto Blanco, 4 Manuel Mora, 5 Matt Foulds, 6 Jaime Nava (capt.), 7 Lucas Guillaume, 8 Afa Tauli, 9 Tomás Munilla, 10 Álvar Gimeno, 11 Ignacio Contardi, 12 Andrea Rabago, 13 Iñaki Mateu, 14 Federico Castiglioni, 15 Brad Linklater

Replacements: 16 Jean-Baptiste Custoja, 17 Juan Anaya, 18 Agustín Ortíz, 19 Victor Sánchez, 20 Fred Quercy, 21 Grégory Maiquez, 22 Emiliano Calle Rivas, 23 Jordi Jorba

 

 

URUGUAY (21) vs RUSSIA (19)
Wednesday, June 14, 15:30, Montevideo

Los Teros will approach their first of two full-on test matches with care as head coach Esteban Meneses makes nine changes to the starting lineup. A solid victory over Emerging Italy on Saturday cost them two players to injury in lock Manuel Leindekar and flyhalf Germán Albanell. Called up to the squad are Diego Ayala and Lucas Durán.

Ayala is thrown straight into the second row alongside Ignacio Dotti with an all-changed front row as well. Martín Espiga returns from suspension to start at hooker with first choice props Mateo Sanguinetti and Mario Sagario on either side. Franco Lamanna is in on the flank and Alejandro Nieto starts at No 8.

Santiago Arata has recovered from his own knock to retain his spot at scrumhalf with Felipe Berchesi recalled at flyhalf in place of Albanell. Gastón Mieres also returns to suspension to start on the wing. Agustín Ormaechea is added to the bench as halfback cover.

On the other hand Alexander Pervukhin is exceedingly pleased with his team’s performance in the big upset win over the Argentina XV and has made only four changes to his lineup. Shifting out are flankers Andrei Temnov and Tagir Gadzhiev, scrumhalf Konstantin Uzunov, and winger Alexei Mikhaltsov.

The new flankers are Viktor Gresev and Dmitri Gritsenko with Alexei Shcherban taking over at scrumhalf. Captain Vasili Artemiev switches to the wing with Ramil Gaisin taking over at fullback.

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

Replacements: 16 Germán Kessler, 17 Matías Benítez, 18 Juan Echeverría, 19 Manuel Diana, 20 Diego Magno, 21 Agustín Ormaechea, 22 Gastón Gibernau, 23 Agustín Della Corte

RUSSIA
1 Andrei Polivalov, 2 Stanislav Selskiy, 3 Azamat Bitiev, 4 Dmitri Krotov, 5 Bogdan Fedotko, 6 Viktor Gresev, 7 Dmitri Gritsenko, 8 Anton Rudoi, 9 Konstantin Uzunov, 10 Yuri Kushnarev, 11 Vasili Artemiev (capt.), 12 Dmitri Gerasimov, 13 Kirill Gubin, 14 Denis Simplikevich, 15 Ramil Gaisin

Replacements: 16 Sergei Chernyshev, 17 Valeri Morozov, 18 Vladimir Podrezov, 19 Andrei Temnov, 20 Tagir Gadzhiev, 21 Alexei Shcherban, 22 Egveni Nepeivoda, 23 Alexander Budychenko