Preview: Uruguay vs Spain

Uruguay play host to Spain on Sunday. The fixture is the first of two test matches between the countries. Both are preparing for RWC 2023 qualifiers. The hosts have played in four RWCs and the visitors one. Neither team is at full-strength for Sunday’s contest.

The match is the fourth for Los Teros in three weeks. Uruguay hosted the South American 4 Nations. The hosts defeated Brazil but fell short against Argentina and Chile. Uruguay played without European-based players. A number of others were also unable to play due to injury. Among them Juan Manuel Cat, Ignacio Dotti, and Diego Magno remain sidelined.

However, there is good news for Uruguay. Three players joined the roster at the start of the week. The triple boost sees hooker Facundo Gattas, flanker Manuel Ardao, and fullback Gastón Mieres all returning. The trio are all in the team to face Spain.

Gattas will start ahead of Guillermo Pujadas at hooker. He will join Matías Benítez, and Diego Arbelo in the front-row. The youthful Felipe Aliaga, and Juanjuan Garese will lock the scrum. Manuel Ardao will start in a back-row alongside Santiago Civetta, and Manuel Diana.

The return of Gastón Mieres gives Uruguay six basks from RWC 2019. Mieres joins Rodrigo Silva and Federico Favaro in the back-three. The selection enables RWC 2019 winger Nicolás Freitas to continue at outside center. He will play alongside captain Andrés Vilaseca in the mid-field.

Scrum-half Guillermo Lijtenstein is the one no-RWC 2019 player. He joins Felipe Etcheverry in the halves. Etcheverry was used as a replacement fullback at RWC 2019. He starts with Felipe Berchesi and Juan Manuel Cat unavailable.

Uruguay’s RWC win over Fiji has lifted the expectations that rivals have for them. Spain missed out on RWC 2019; breaching player eligibility laws disqualified Los Leones.

Spain had beaten Romania and Russia in European qualifiers. Despite evidently having a competitive team at that time, Spain believes that it is better placed now than four years ago. Head Coach Santiago Santos also points out that Spain is looking to the future.

With this in mind he has taken a young side to Montevideo. Andrés Alvarado will make his test debut at tight head. His understudy, Joel Merkler, will make his debut from the bench. José Díaz will start at loose head. It will be his third test cap.

Also debuting will be Bautista Güemes. The Argentine fly half qualified this year for Spain on residency. He will play at outside center. He and David Melé will give Spain two play-makers in the starting backline. 19-year-old Gonzalo Vinuesa will cover from the bench.

Further youth will start. This includes Biarritz’s Kerman Aurrekoetxea who will earn his third cap at scrum-half. His test debut will coincide with those u20’s players Diego Peirel and Daniel Barranco.

There have been twelve prior test matches between Uruguay, and Spain. The first was won by Spain 16-8 in 1987. Since then Uruguay has won six matches and Spain five. The teams thereby have an overall record of 6-6.

The most recent match was at the same venue as Saturday’s clash – the Estadio Charrúa. On that occasion Spain convincing 41-21 winners.

The Uruguayans were not happy with their performance against Argentina. They will be out to react with a win over Spain. Los Leones have not had comparative match-practice. ARN projects an Uruguayan victory by 8 points.

 

TEAMS

URUGUAY
1 Matías Benítez, 2 Facundo Gattas, 3 Diego Arbelo, 4 Felipe Aliaga, 5 Juanjuan Garese, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Guillermo Lijtenstein, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Rodrigo Silva, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Nicolás Freitas, 14 Federico Favaro, 15 Gastón Mieres

Replacements: 16 Guillermo Pujadas, 17 Mateo Perillo, 18 Ignacio Peculo, 19 Lorenzo Surraco, 20 Leandro Segredo, 21 Eric Dosantos, 22 Ignacio Rodríguez, 23 Agustín Della Corte

SPAIN
1 José Díaz, 2 Vicente del Hoyo, 3 Andrés Alvorado, 4 Manu Mora, 5 Victor Sánchez, 6 Matt Foulds, 7 Fred Quercy, 8 Afa Tauli, 9 Kerman Aurrekoetxea, 10 David Melé, 11 Julen Goia (capt.), 12 Bautista Guemes, 13 Andrea Rabago, 14 Ignacio Contardi, 15 Richard Stewart

Replacements: 16 Fernando López, 17 Steve Barnes, 18 Joel Merkler, 19 Michael Walker-Fitton, 20 Michael Hogg, 21 Facundo Munilla, 22 Gonzalo Vunuesa, 23 Baltazar Taibo

Date: Sunday, November 01
Kick-Off: 4pm (Montevideo), 8pm (Madrid)
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Broadcasting: Sudamérica Rugby App