Match Preview – Namibia vs Uruguay

A rematch 17 years in the making takes place on Saturday when Uruguay travel to Namibia for the first time. Windhoek will host a two-match series between the two closely-ranked sides. Their only previous encounter was in September 2000 when Los Teros defeated the Welwitschias by 23-12 in Montevideo.

For both countries the tour serves as vital preparation ahead of Rugby World Cup 2019 qualifiers. It is the final hit-out for both with Uruguay facing Canada in January while Namibia need to wait until the middle of 2018 before playing again.

With more than a dozen leading players unavailable Namibia coach Phil Davies will field a mixed side with a number of development players including three standouts from the World Rugby u20 Trophy tournament. Starting hooker Obert Nortje, reserve prop Nelius Theron, and goal-kicking flyhalf Cliven Loubser are selected. Theron is the only uncapped player on the match day roster.

Loubser forms an all-Sharks Academy halfback pairing with Damian Stevens, with record points scorer Theuns Kotzé left on the bench. The backline is very experienced with the exception of imposing outside back Lesley Klim who is named on the right wing.

Up front there are heavyweight props in Collen Smith and AJ de Klerk and the towering presence of Ruan Ludick, at 2.08m (6’10”) comfortably the tallest man on the pitch. Former Western Province flanker Rohan Kitshoff, older brother of Springbok prop Steven, will lead the side and Christo van der Merwe wins the No 8 jersey ahead of the promising Adriaan Booysen.

Despite the tour being during the November test window Uruguay are also key European based professionals. Second row Manuel Leindekar and flyhalf Felipe Berchesi, both based in France, will not be arriving though they will have scrumhalf Agustín Ormaechea and Italy-based flanker Franco Lamanna.

Ormaechea will be forced to play second fiddle to Santiago Arata, however, with the youngster preferred in a dynamic halfback pairing with Rodrigo Silva. Gastón Mieres starts at fullback with the in-form Federico Favaro on the right wing and unused Jaguares squad member Nicolás Freitas named in the midfield in the absence of Juan Manuel Cat.

Juan Manuel Gaminara again skippers the side on the flank and there is a surprise in the second row where Rodolfo Garese, himself typically a flanker, is named beside Ignacio Dotti. Head coach Esteban Meneses has opted for a 6-2 split on the bench with two second rows in Diego Ayala and Diego Magno ready to fill in.

In terms of ranking there is little to choose between the two sides with Uruguay 19th and Namibia 21st. It’s the forward pack, however, where Los Teros look to have a significant advantage in experience. Despite being outweighed they should also have the dominant scrum, though the lineout looks heavily skewed towards Namibia.

With two evenly-matched back divisions goal kicking will be of critical importance. Favaro has been deadly accurate from the tee in recent matches though Loubser is also a sharp-shooter. Look for Uruguay’s superior bench to make the difference in the second half.

Kickoff is set for 4pm local time, 11am Montevideo.

NAMIBIA
1 Collen Smith, 2 Obert Nortje, 3 AJ de Klerk, 4 Mahepisa Tjeriko, 5 Ruan Ludick, 6 Rohan Kitshoff (capt.), 7 Thomasau Forbes, 8 Christo van der Merwe, 9 Damian Stevens, 10 Cliven Loubser, 11 David Philander, 12 Darryl de la Harpe, 13 JC Greyling, 14 Lesley Klim, 15 Johann Tromp

Replacements: 16 Niel van Vuuren, 17 Casper Viviers, 18 Nelius Theron, 19 Johan Retief, 20 Max Katjijeko, 21 TC Kisting, 22 Theuns Kotzé, 23 Justin Newman

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Germán Kessler, 3 Juan Echeverría, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Rodolfo Garese, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.), 7 Manuel Diana, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Santiago Arata, 10 Rodrigo Silva, 11 Gastón Gibernau, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Nicolás Freitas, 14 Federico Favaro, 15 Gastón Mieres

Replacements: 16 Carlos Pombo, 17 Carlos Arboleya, 18 Matías Benítez, 19 Diego Ayala, 20 Diego Magno, 21 Franco Lamanna, 22 Agustín Ormaechea, 23 Agustín Della Corte

Date: Saturday, November 18
Venue: Hage Geingob Stadium, Windhoek
Kickoff: 16:00 local (09:00 Eastern, 11:00 Montevideo)
Referee: Egon Seconds (SARU)
Assistants: Rasta Rasivhenge (SARU) & Cwengile Jadezweni (SARU)
Broadcasts: DirecTV, Facebook Stream