Match Preview – Namibia vs Uruguay

Namibia and Uruguay will play the second of two test matches on Saturday. Un game one Los Teros had a commanding lead before being threatened by the Africans. Ultimately they would go on to record a memorable 52-36 victory.

Despite both Namibia and Uruguay having plenty of Rugby World Cup experience the upcoming fixture is to be just the third overall between the countries. Their only previous encounter was in September 2000 when Los Teros defeated the Welwitschias by 23-12 in Montevideo. As such Uruguay take with them a 2-0 record.

Namibia Head Coach Phil Davies has his strongest available line-up. Missing are more than a dozen leading players, an unfortunate situation for all involved. As was the case in game one Davies has a hybrid team combining experience and youth.

2017 World Rugby u20 Trophy star players Nelius Theron and Cliven Loubser are among the starers for Saturday’s match. Theron made his test debut from the bench last weekend. He will start at Tight Head prop this weekend.

Theron is to join Casper Viziers and Niel van Vuuren in a brand-new front-row. The trio from last week of Collen Smith, Obert Nortje, AJ de Klerk all drop to the bench.

Additional changes see Tjiuee Uanivi recalled to lock the scrum. He replaces Mahepisa Tjeriko. In the back-row both Johan Retief and Adriaan Booysen earn starts. They do so with Thomasau Forbes and Christo van der Merwe missing out. van der Merwe will play from the bench.

In the back-three Chrysander Botha takes over from Johann Tromp at fullback while Gino Wilson starts on the left wing, taking over from David Philander.

Uruguay have made adjustments for the match. This does not see the inclusion of Felipe Berchesi. Instead the fly half remains on club duty this weekend for Dax in France. In his absence Rodrigo Silva continues at pivot. Selected as a winger for Rugby World Cup 2015, Silva’s versatility is now vital for his team’s chances.

Silva will have a new halves partner this Saturday. The young and highly impressive Santiago Arata is among Uruguay’s best players. The higher-profile Agustín Ormaechea starts at scrum-half this weekend.

In the forwards Diego Ayala returns to start in the second-row. He is to join Ignacio Dotti which sees Rodolfo Garese dropping to the bench. Both he and Diego Magno offer lock options as replacements.

At flanker Gonzalo Soto earns a start. He does so in place of Manuel Diana. This sees the back-row trio consisting of Soto, captain Juan Manuel Gaminara and the hat-trick scorer, Alejandro Nieto.

Last Saaturday’s result saw changes in the World Rankings. Uruguay moved up one spot from 19th to 18th while Namibia fell one from 22nd to 21st. Ranked between them are Spain, Russia and Canada, three countries to have lost to Uruguay this year. Based on this, past results and form a series win in Windhoek looms as a likely outcome.

NAMIBIA
1 Casper Viviers, 2 Niel van Vuuren, 3 Nelius Theron, 4 Tjiuee Uanivi, 5 Ruan Ludick, 6 Rohan Kitshoff (capt.), 7 Johan Retief, 8 Adriaan Booysen, 9 Damian Stevens, 10 Cliven Loubser, 11 Gino Wilson, 12 Darryl de la Harpe, 13 JC Greyling, 14 Lesley Klim, 15 Chrysander Botha

Replacements: 16 Obert Nortje, 17 Collen Smith, 18 AJ de Klerk, 19 Prince Gaoseb, 20 Christo van der Merwe, 21 Eugene Jantjies, 22 Theuns Kotzé, 23 Justin Newman

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Germán Kessler, 3 Juan Echeverría, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Diego Ayala, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.), 7 Gonzalo Soto, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Agustín Ormaechea, 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 Rodolfo Garese, 20 Franco Lamanna, 21 Diego Magno, 22 Santiago Arata, 23 Agustín Della Corte

Date: Saturday, November 25
Venue: Hage Geingob Stadium, Windhoek
Kickoff: 16:00 local (09:00 Eastern, 11:00 Uruguay)
Referee: Rasta Rasivhenge (SARU)
Assistants: Egon Seconds (SARU) & Cwengile Jadezweni (SARU)
Broadcasts: Facebook Stream