Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
Uruguay host the Argentina XV on Friday. The battle of Rio de la Plata doubles as the 2017 Sudamérica Rugby Cup Final. The winner will be the official 2017 South American Champion.
The fixture has been positioned to tie-in with the upcoming Americas Pacific Challenge and both teams have named powerful lineups.
The home side have named a powerful front-row. Mateo Sanguinetti, Germán Kessler and Mario Sagario will put the Argentina XV under pressure. Based on performances thus far in 2017 it is an area in which Uruguay may look to exploit the visitors.
Ignacio Dotti and Diego Ayala are lock the scrum. Both players have been developing notably over the past two years. Veterans Juan Manuel Gaminara and Alejandro Nieto both start in the back-row. Manuel Diana completes the trio while Gaminara will wear the captain’s arm-band.
In the backs Uruguay’s star-in-the-making, Santiago Arata, starts at scrum-half. Following his sensational try against Spain the no 9 is a name to underline for the future. Indeed, Uruguay’s best back from Rugby World Cup 2015, Agustín Ormaechea has serious competition.
Arata is to be partnered in the halves by Rodrigo Silva. Usually a winger, the make-shift selection is based on the needs of the team. It enables the trio of Gastón Gibernau, Leandro Leivas and Gastón Mieres to all start in the back-three.
Completing the starting formation will be the mid-field combination of Andrés Vilaseca and Juan Manuel Cat. Both players have demonstrated steady progress this year.
Argentina XV Head Coach Felipe Contepomi has a side featuring Super Rugby players. The Ezcurra brothers are both to start while Juan Cruz Guillemaín will feature from the bench. A fourth, Joaquín Díaz Bonilla, dropped out earlier in the week. Martín Elías takes his spot at fly half.
Elsewhere in the backline there is familiarity. Juan Cappiello will play at outside center, teaming up with Bautista Ezcurra in the mid-field. The Back-three sees Sebastián Cancelliere and Germán Schulz playing on the wings and Bautista Delguy at fullback.
With both teams having named strong sides it is a match to look forward to. For the visitors many are closing-in on opportunities at Los Pumas. For the hosts there is an eye on a trip to Namibia in November and a Dream of facing Canada in the Americas 2 RWC 2019 final.
On the back of a strong PladAR program the visitors enter as favorites.
URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Germán Kessler, 3 Mario Sagario, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Diego Ayala, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (Capt.), 7 Manuel Diana, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Santiago Arata, 10 Rodrigo Silva, 11 Gastón Gibernau, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Juan Manuel Cat, 14 Leandro Leivas, 15 Gastón Mieres
Replacements: 16 Carlos Pombo, 17 Matías Benítez, 18 Juan Echeverría, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Rodolfo Garese, 21 Guillermo Lijtenstein, 22 Agustín Della Corte, 23 Rodrigo Bocking
ARGENTINA XV
1 Francisco Ferronato, 2 Gaspar Baldunciel, 3 Benjamín Espinal, 4 Jerónimo Ureta, 5 Diego Galetto, 6 Rodrigo Bruni, 7 Lautaro Bavaro (Capt.), 8 Santiago Montagner, 9 Felipe Ezcurra, 10 Martín Elías, 11 Germán Schulz, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 13 Juan Cappiello, 14 Sebastián Cancelliere, 15 Bautista Delguy
Replacements: 16 Axel Zapata, 17 Franco Brarda, 18 Santiago Medrano, 19 Juan Cruz Guillemaín, 20 Santiago Portillo, 21 Nicolás Catarutti, 22 Juan Cruz Mallía, 23 Franco Cuaranta
Date: Friday September 29
Venue: Estadio Alberto Suppici, Colonia del Sacramento
Kick-Off: 19:00 local
Referee: Henrique Platais (CBRu)
Assistants: Francisco González (URU) & Santiago Romero (URU)
