u20 Trophy Preview – Portugal vs Uruguay

Uruguay will play Portugal in what is effectively an extra knock-out match to decide who advances to the Bronze Final at the World Rugby u20 Trophy in Bucharest. Wednesday’s match will be a replay of the tournament opener a year ago when Portugal edged the Teritos 20-18 at a rain-soaked Estadio Charrúa.

Portugal opened their 2018 account with a come-from-behind win over Canada but were unable to match the strength of Fiji on Saturday. A couple injuries to key backs have forced their hands somewhat with seven changes all told, four in the backline.

Flyhalf Miguel Portela and star outside back Manuel Cardoso Pinto have been ruled out. Joao Lima switches back to the No10 shirt with Gonçalo Santos moving from the wing to the midfield. Duarte Gonçalves and Diogo Cardoso fill the vacancies on the wings. Martim Cardoso is given his first start of the tournament at scrumhalf in place of Duarte Azevedo.

Up front David Costa and José Pimental return at the props, with Sebastião Silva nominated in the second row. Manuel Pinto drops out as captain João Vital returns to flanker after playing lock on the weekend.

The Teritos show six changes to the side that edged Canada, with half the starting pack rotated. There are just two changes in the backs with a new halfback combination in Alfonso Cat and Matías D’Avanzo replacing Juan Nicola and Juan Martín Cattivelli.

Starting props Joaquín Jaunsolo and Reinaldo Piussi are rested in favor of Nicolás Buysan and Ignacio Peculo. Maxime Sonneveld fills in at lock, a departure from his usual flank position, and Juan Garese is recalled on the blindside flank in a straight rotation with James McCubbin.

Kickoff is set for 5pm local time, 11am Montevideo. A live stream will be provided by World Rugby.

PORTUGAL
1 João Francisco Lima, 2 Nuno Mascarenhas, 3 José Pimentel, 4 Sebastião Silva, 5 Manuel Peleteiro, 6 Manuel Nunes, 7 João Vital (capt.), 8 Duarte Campos, 9 Martim Cardoso, 10 João Lima, 11 Duarte Gonçalves, 12 Gonçalo Santos, 13 Rodrigo Marta, 14 Diogo Cardoso, 15 Gabriel Pop

Replacements: 16 David Costa, 17 José Alexandre Sarmento, 18 Filipe Granja, 19 Pedro Ferreira, 20 José Roque, 21 Manuel Pinto, 22 Manuel Marta, 23 Duarte Azevedo, 24 Francisco Campos

URUGUAY
1 Nicolás Buysan, 2 Emiliano Faccennini, 3 Ignacio Peculo, 4 Maxime Sonneveld, 5 Felipe Aliaga, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Juan Garese, 8 Santiago Civetta (capt.), 9 Alfonso Cat, 10 Matías D’Avanzo, 11 Mateo Viñals, 12 Manuel Portela, 13 Valentín Grille, 14 Alfonso Costa, 15 José Iruleguy

Replacements: 16 Joaquín Jaunsolo, 17 Francisco Martirena, 18 Reinaldo Piussi, 19 Joaquín García, 20 Martín Darracq, 21 James McCubbin, 22 Juan Martín Cattivelli, 23 Baltazar Amaya, 24 César Riviere, 25 Juan Francisco Torres, 26 Juan Nicola

Date: Wednesday, September 5
Venue: Stadionul Arcul de Triumf, Bucharest
Kickoff: 17:00 local (07:00 Pacific, 10:00 Eastern, 11:00 Montevideo)
Broadcasts: World Rugby