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In the final Pool D fixture of RWC 2019 Uruguay face Wales. Taking place in Kumamoto the fixture is to be the second RWC encounter between the sides. It falls four years after the first in which Los Teros played their England 2015 match against Wales in Cardiff, Wales.
Uruguay Head Coach Esteban Meneses has made nine changes from the side which started against Australia in Oita. This includes the captaincy wherein center Andrés Vilaseca returns the captain’s armband to flanker Juan Manuel Gaminara.
Gaminara returns from the bench to lead the team in an all-changed back-row. The additional alterations sees Alejandro Nieto replacing Manuel Diana at N8 and Santiago Civetta replacing Juan Diego Ormaechea.
In the second-row powerhouse ball-carrier Ignacio Dotti returns to start together with Manuel Leindekar. This sees Franco Lamanna dropping out of the 23 with Diego Magno preferred as the replacement lock option.
Up front German Kessler and Diego Arbelo have been retained at hooker and tight head while Mateo Sanguinetti is back to fitness to play loose head. Sanguinetti replaces Juan Echeverría who drops to the bench.
In the backs Santiago Arata returns to be the starting scrum-half ahead of Agustín Ormaechea. He will partner Felipe Berchesi in the halves. Vilaseca will start again at inside center though his mid-field partner will be Juan Manuel Cat who returns in place of Tomás Inciarte.
In the back-three the Toronto Arrows pairing of Leandro Leivas, and Gastón Mieres have both been named to start. They do so on the right wing and fullback in place of Federico Favaro and Rodrigo Silva. Nicolás Freitas starts again on the left wing.
Wales Head Coach Warren Gatland has opted for thirteen changes from the side that defeated Fiji 29-17 in Oita. The policy comes with an eye to the Quarter Finals against either France or England.
Retrained are the hat-trick scoring Josh Adams and New Zealand import Hadleigh Parkes. They start on the right wing and at inside center respectively.
The long list of changes means that Aled Davies, Ryan Elias, Bradley Davies, Adam Beard and Hallam Amos will all play for the first time in the tournament. They are to do so under the captaincy of Justin Tupuric who leads the side from flanker with Alun Wyn Jones rested.
The RWC 2015 clash was Wales completing a 54-9 victory. While many people may be expecting something similar on Sunday the demonstrated progress of Uruguay means that a closer match is likely. Prior to the tournament Uruguay confirmed their target for this match was to lose by no more than 30 points. ARN predicits Wales to win by 28 points.
TEAMS
URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Germán Kessler, 3 Diego Arbelo, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.), 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Santiago Arata, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 11 Nicolás Freitas, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Juan Manuel Cat, 14 Leandro Leivas, 15 Gastón Mieres
Replacements: 16 Guillermo Pujadas, 17 Juan Echeverría, 18 Juan Pedro Rombys, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Manuel Diana, 21 Agustin Ormaechea, 22 Tomas Inciarte, 23 Rodrigo Silva
WALES
1 Nicky Smith, 2 Ryan Elias, 3 Dillon Lewis, 4 Bradley Davies, 5 Adam Beard, 6 Aaron Shingler, 7 Justin Tipuric (capt.), 8 Aaron Wainwright, 9 Aled Davies, 10 Rhys Patchell, 11 Hallam Amos, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 13 Owen Watkin, 14 Josh Adams, 15 Leigh Halfpenny
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Rhys Carre, 18 Wyn Jones, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 James Davies, 22 Tomos Williams, 23 Gareth Davies
Date: Sunday October 13
Kick-Off: 17:15 (01:15 Pacific, 04:15 Eastern, 05:15 Rio de la Plata)
Venue: Kumamoto Stadium, Kumamoto
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistants: Luke Pearce (Wales), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)
