APC Preview – Argentina vs Uruguay

The final tilt of the 2017 Americas Pacific Challenge will see hosts Uruguay ‘A’ thrown in against the Argentina XV, defending champions and heavy favorites to repeat after blowing out both Canada ‘A’ and Samoa ‘A’ in successive matches. While Uruguay will be disappointed to have dropped their match against the USA Select XV on Wednesday there is still hope. A bonus-point win coupled with a mighty defensive performance could be enough to lift the trophy. It’s not altogether out of the question given that the senior Uruguay side were only narrowly beaten by a similar Argentina XV just a couple weeks ago.

Replacing the injured Franco Brarda at prop for Argentina is Felipe Arregui, with Benjamín Espinal retaining his spot at tighthead and Alejo Brem called up to the bench. The rest of the forward pack remains as it did on Wednesday but there are changes in the backs.

Nicolás Cantarutti gets his first start of the competition at flyhalf in place of Juan Cruz González. Rodrigo Etchart is named on the left wing with Sebastian Cancelliere staying on the right. Juan Cruz Mallía will run out at fullback.

As expected Uruguay have made several changes, recalling the loose forward trio that started round one. Rodolfo Garese, Gonzalo Soto, and Manuel Diana return along with the front row of Matías Benítez, Germán Kessler, and Mario Sagario. Diego Magno replaces Mathias Palomeque at lock.

The backs will see a first as Gastón Gibernau starts at flyhalf for the first time at international level, and there are recalls for Agustín Della Corte at inside centre and Leandro Leivas on the right wing. Gastón Mieres moves to the left wing.

Kickoff is set for 4:00 pm local time, 3:00 pm Eastern. A live stream will be provided by World Rugby.

ARGENTINA XV
1 Felipe Arregui, 2 Gaspar Baldunciel, 3 Benjamín Espinal, 4 Diego Galetto, 5 Ignacio Larrague, 6 Tomás de la Vega, 7 Lautaro Bavaro (capt.), 8 Rodrigo Bruni, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 10 Nicolás Cantarutti, 11 Rodrigo Etchart, 12 Juan Cappiello, 13 Santiago Álvarez, 14 Sebastián Cancelliere, 15 Juan Cruz Mallía

Replacements: 16 Axel Zapata, 17 Roberto Tejerizo, 18 Alejo Brem, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Mariano Romanini, 21 Juan Cruz González, 22 Franco Cuaranta, 23 Bautista Delguy

URUGUAY ‘A’
1 Matías Benítez, 2 Germán Kessler, 3 Mario Sagario, 4 Diego Magno, 5 Diego Ayala, 6 Rodolfo Garese, 7 Gonzalo Soto, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Guillermo Lijtenstein (capt.), 10 Gastón Gibernau, 11 Gastón Mieres, 12 Agustín Della Corte, 13 Joaquín Prada, 14 Leandro Leivas, 15 Francisco López

Replacements: 17 Facundo Gattas, 17 Carlos Pombo, 18 Felipe Inciarte, 19 Mathias Palomeque, 20 Juan Diego Ormaechea, 21 Lucas Durán, 22 Nicolás Freitas, 23 Leandro Segredo

Date: Sunday, October 15
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Kickoff: 16:00 local (15:00 ET, 12:00 PT)
Broadcasts: Facebook Stream, World Rugby Stream