Match Preview – Ulster vs Uruguay

Uruguay’s second game in four days sees Los Teros moving from one UK capital city to another. Having faced the Cardiff Blues on Tuesday the South Americans continue their November tour on Friday against Ulster in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Ulster is without players involved in Irish test team. Eight players are a part of the roster which has three upcoming home internationals, starting with Ireland vs Argentina on Saturday. For a preview of Ireland vs Argentina click here.

Of the Ulster side which played in the most recent round of the Pro 14 only one player will start against Uruguay. Ulster’s fixture last weekend saw the Northern Ireland side downing Italy’s Benetton Treviso. Six players from the bench that day will feature against Uruguay.

Uruguay have gone for six changes from the side which faced the Cardiff Blues on Tuesday. With it the line-up is far closer to being close to the line-up Uruguay is expected to field in RWC 2019.

The selection changes notably se Felipe Berchesi starting at fly half. This sees Rodrigo Silva reverting to his usual Teros position of fullback. Berchesi will be partnered by Santiago Arata, a dynamic halves combination.

With Silva at the back Gastón Mieres moves to the right wing with Federico Favaro dropping to the bench. Another notable alteration sees Andrés Vilaseca back starting, taking-over from Agustín Della Corte.

In the forwards Alejandro Nieto starts at no 8, taking-over from Manuel Diana. An addition alteration in the back-row sees Juan Diego Ormaechea taking over from Leandro Segredo.

There are also some experimental selections for the match. These include Juan Pedro Rombys starting ahead of Juan Echeverría at tight head, and veteran Diego Magno in for the French-based Manuel Leindekar in the second-row.

On the bench is a positional move with u20s flanker Manuel Ardao named as the replacement hooker. His first taste of playing at the elite senior level in the position will be eased by having Matías Benítez, and Juan Echeverría going him on the bench.

Uruguay’sline-up is much improved from that which faced the Cardiff Blues. Yet preparing to face a fully-professional side such as Ulster on such a short time-frame and traveling from Wales to Northern Ireland is highly demanding. Ulster enter as favorites to win by 10 points.

TEAMS

ULSTER
1 Schalk van der Merwe, 2 Adam McBurney (capt.), 3 Tom O’Toole, 4 Matthew Dalton, 5 Alex Thompson, 6 Matthew Rea, 7 Marcus Rea, 8 Greg Jones, 9 Jonny Stewart, 10 Johnny McPhillips, 11 Angus Kernohan, 12 James Hume, 13 Stewart Moore, 14 Iwan Hughes, 15 Bruce Houston

Replacements: 16 Zack McCall, 17 Corrie Barrett, 18 Peter Cooper, 19 Joe Dunleavy, 20 David McCann, 21 Jonah Mau’u, 22 Graham Curtis, 23 Michael Stronge

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Germán Kessler, 3 Juan Rombys, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Diego Magno, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.), 7 Juan Diego Ormaechea, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Santiago Arata, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 11 Gastón Mieres, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Juan Manuel Cat, 14 Leandro Leivas, 15 Rodrigo Silva

Replacements: 16 Manuel Ardao, 17 Matías Benítez, 18 Juan Echeverría, 19 Manuel Leindekar, 20 Manuel Diana, 21 Tomás Iniciarte, 22 Agustín Della Corte, 23 Federico Favaro

Date: Friday, November 9
Kick-Off: 19:30 Local (14:30 Eastern, 16:30 Montevideo)
Venue: Ravenhill, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Referee: Robert O’Sullivan (Ireland)
Assistant Referees: Jonny Erskine (Ireland) & Chris Busby (Ireland)
TMO: David Wilkinson (Ireland)