Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
One of the longest-lasting rivalries in international rugby will continue on Wednesday. Uruguay play host to Chile in a non-capped match in Montevideo. The fixture is a round two match in the 2020 South American 4 Nations.
The Uruguay XV enter on the back of a 25-17 win over the Brazil XV. They had the better of their northern neighbors. Federico Favaro landed 20 points in the contest.
The match followed the opening match of the competition. In it the Chile XV were beaten by the Argentina XV. The 25-24 scoreline was a genuine nail-bitter in which the favorites required an overtime penalty to secure victory.
The Chile XV’s performance furthers the argument that Los Cóndores are an improving side. Uruguay will be taking notes as they make sure to give the Chileans the respect they deserve. Recent competition between the Uruguay and Chile has seen understrength Uruguayan line-ups seriously tested. Chile were 22-20 winners over the Uruguay XV in 2018 and the Chile XV pushed them again in losing 39-32 in 2019.
The Uruguay XV enter with four changes in the forwards. Matías Benítez replaces Ezequiel Ramos at loose head. He will join Guillermo Pujadas, and Diego Arbelo who retain their places. Lorenzo Surraco has been retained in the second-row, though he will join Felipe Aliaga who takes over from Juanjuan Garese.
The most notable feature of the forwards comes in the back-row. Experimentation sees Eric Dosantos and Federico Di Bueno named as the starting flankers. They take over from familiar names in Leandro Segredo, and Santiago Civetta. The ever-reliable Manuel Diana has been retained at N8.
The halves combination will remain as Guillermo Lijtenstein, and Felipe Etcheverry. Also retained are Nicolás Freitas at outside center; Federico Favaro on the right wing; and Rodrigo Silva at fullback. The changes in the backs see the promising Baltazar Amaya replace Juan Manuel Alonso on the left wing and Andrés Vilaseca back to captain the side at inside center.
The Chile XV enter the match with a new front-row. Javier Carrasco, Tomas Dussaillant, and Matías Dittus have been replaced by Iñaki Gurruchaga, Augusto Bohme, and Esteban Inostroza. The case of Dittus follows protocol. He was carried-off after an accidental knee to the head when he attempted a tackle.
The remaining five Chileans who started against the Argentina XV will also do so against the Uruguay XV. Of note is the back-row of Ignacio Silva, Martín Sigren, and Nicolás Garafulic.
Five of the backs have also been retained; the two changes come on the wings. Franco Velarde takes over from Matías Garafulic on the left wing while Julio Blanc makes way for Matías Garafulic.
The Uruguay XV are favorites to win the match. Day one results indicate that doing so will require a strong performance. This is good news for Chile’s mission of qualifying for an inaugural RWC. Chile’s pack will ask serious questions of the opposition. ARN predicts a tight battle with the Uruguay XV to win by 4 points.
TEAMS
URUGUAY XV
1 Matías Benítez, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Diego Arbelo, 4 Felipe Aliaga, 5 Lorenzo Surraco, 6 Eric Dosantos, 7 Federico Di Bueno, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Guillermo Listenstein, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Baltazar Amaya, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Nicolás Freitas, 14 Federico Favaro, 15 Rodrigo Silva
Replacements: 16 Agustín Conserva, 17 Ezequiel Ramos, 18 Ignacio Peculo, 19 Leandro Segredo, 20 Santiago Civetta, 21 Ignacio Rodríguez, 22 José Iruleguy, 23 Agustín Della Corte, 24 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 25 Juanjuan Garese, 26 Mateo Perillo
CHILE XV
1 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 2 Augusto Bohme, 3 Esteban Inostroza, 4 Clemente Saavedra, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Ignacio Silva, 7 Martín Sigren (capt.), 8 Nicolás Garafulic, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Francisco Urroz, 11 Franco Velarde, 12 Santiago Videla, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Matías Garafulic, 15 Rodrigo Fernández
Replacements: 16 Tomás Dussaillant, 17 Javier Carrasco, 18 Salvador Lues, 19 Santiago Pedrero, 20 Thomas Orchard, 21 Alfonso Escobar, 22 Jan Hasenlechner, 23 Raimundo Martínez, 24 José Larenas, 25 Diego Warnken, 26 Julio Blanc
Date: Wednesday, October 21
Kick-off: 7:45pm
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Referee: Nehuén Jauri Rivero (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Damián Schneider (Argentina), Cauá Ricardo (Brazil)
