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Injuries are mounting up for Uruguay. Having played four matches over consecutive weekends Los Teros have concerns they need to manage for the remainder of the Americas Rugby Championship (ARC).
Uruguay started by playing against Canada in Vancouver. From there they played seven days later against the same opposition in Montevideo. Further travel followed with a trip to São Paulo to face Brazil. They then returned home to face the Argentina XV in Punta del Este.
The travel continues this week with a flight across the continent to face Chile at the Estadio Municipal de La Pintana in Santiago on Saturday. Chile have mounting injuries of their own and are backing up from facing the USA in California this past Saturday.
Uruguay’s trip to Chile is to be without three players. Team Doctor Marcelo Santurio has ruled out three key players from the match. They are to be captain and flanker Juan Manuel Gaminara, Tight Head Mario Sagario and winger Nicolás Freitas.
Gaminara has inflammation in his right knee, Sagario has a sprained knee while Freitas has a bruised thigh. The trio should be fine to play in the final round of the ARC at home against the USA.
But their non-availability against Chile means that Uruguay is far from being at the same strength to that which faced Canada in the RWC 2019 qualifiers. Five European-Based players are no longer with the roster while Santiago Arata is also injured. Arata went down hurt in the opening minutes of the Montevideo match against Canada.
The trip to Chile gives Los Teros the opportunity to extent their unbeaten run in test rugby to 14 matches. Uruguay’s winning streak dates back to February 18 2017. It means that win, lose or draw in Santiago that Uruguay will have gone a full year without a defeat in test matches.
