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Uruguay is preparing for the upcoming RWC 2023 qualifiers. Los Teros will have home advantage in a Tri Nations involving Uruguay and the winners of Brazil vs Paraguay and Chile vs Colombia. Uruguay’s home-based players are now training together in Montevideo.
Uruguay’s on-field preparations officially started in 2020. Playing as the Uruguay XV, the team competed in the South American Championship. It was a roster missing a number of foreign-based players. The Chile XV defeated the Uruguay XV; a result which gave Uruguay plenty to think about and to learn from.
Uruguay’s entrant in the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) was predominantly Uruguayan. 27 of Peñarol’s 32 players are Uruguayans. The five foreigners are all Argentine and covered positions that Uruguay happens to have players in foreign professional leagues.
Peñarol were runners-up in SLAR 2021. The team gave Los Jaguares XV a challenging final. Los Jaguares XV and Selknam caused Peñarol the greatest problems during the campaign. The roster for the final round of South American RWC 2023 qualifiers will have this point at the forefront of selection.
Uruguay’s Peñarol players are all expected to be on the Teros roster. They will be joined by players based in Europe and Major League Rugby (MLR). They will arrive at different times but will all be more than ready for the RWC 2023 qualifiers on July 17 and 24.
URUGUAY
| ## | PLAYER | CLUB | POS |
PROJECTED FIRST XV
| 1 | Mateo Sanguinetti | Massy Essonne (FR) | LH |
| 2 | Germán Kessler | Provence (FR) | HK |
| 3 | Diego Arbelo | Peñarol | TH |
| 4 | Ignacio Dotti | NOLA Gold (U.S) | LO |
| 5 | Manuel Leindekar | Oyonnax (FR) | LO |
| 6 | Manuel Ardao | Peñarol | FL |
| 7 | Santiago Civetta | Peñarol | FL |
| 8 | Manuel Diana | Toronto Arrows (CA) | N8 |
| 9 | Santiago Arata | Castres (FR) | SH |
| 10 | Felipe Berchesi | Dax (FR) | FH |
| 11 | Mateo Viñals | Peñarol | WI |
| 12 | Andrés Vilaseca | Peñarol | CE |
| 13 | Nicolás Freitas | Peñarol | CE |
| 14 | Gastón Mieres | Toronto Arrows (CA) | WI |
| 15 | Baltazar Amaya | Peñarol | FB |
Uruguay’s projected starting line-up is hybrid; there will likely be Peñarol players and names based abroad. It includes a a spread across positions. SLAR has enabled more players to receive more game time, a factor that has resulted in some Peñarol players actually overtaking RWC 2019 names.
Germán Kessler is projected to be joined by Mateo Sanguinetti and Diego Arbelo in the front-row. They will have the powerful and tall duo of Manuel Leindekar and Ignacio Dotti behind them to lock the scrum. All five players can be said to be virtually assured of starting.
The back-row is relatively clear. Manuel Diana has been among the top Uruguayan forwards this season. The Toronto Arrows N8 is likely to join the Peñarol pair of Manuel Ardao and Santiago Civetta.
Further probability comes at scrum half and fly half; Santiago Arata and Felipe Berchesi are assured of starting in these positions. Andrés Vilaseca will captain the side from inside center. His mid-field partner could be a number of players. ARN projects Nicolás Freitas to play outside center, thereby moving from wing. Freitas played wing and in both centers this year for Peñarol. The non-availability of Juan Manuel Cat and Uruguay’s depth at wing suggest that this is the probable pathway.
Many players received opportunities on the wings for Peñarol. ARN projects young blood out wide with Mateo Viñals having been a stand-out performer for Uruguay’s SLAR entrant. Veteran Gastón Mieres is projected to retain his place; albeit, a move from fullback to wing is plausible. Regular Rodrigo Silva has competition in both positions which explains the selection and because Baltazar Amaya had an excellent SLAR campaign.
PROJECTED REPLACEMENTS
| 16 | Guillermo Pujadas | Peñarol | HK |
| 17 | Matías Benítez | Peñarol | LH |
| 18 | Juan Echeverría | Peñarol | LH/TH |
| 19 | Diego Magno | Houston SaberCats (U.S) | LO/FL |
| 20 | Franco Lamanna | Mogliano (IT) | FL |
| 21 | Tomás Inciarte | Peñarol | SH/CE |
| 22 | Felipe Etcheverry | Peñarol | FH |
| 23 | José Iruleguy | Peñarol | WI/FB |
Uruguay’s projected replacements see established names in the forwards. Guillermo Pujadas edges out Facundo Gattas to be the replacement hooker. There is very little to determine who of the two is the likely understudy to Germán Kessler. RWC 2015 veterans Diego Magno and Franco Lamanna will have priceless input as replacements. Magno is closing in on becoming the first player of the Americas to reach 100 test caps.
There are multiple candidates to be the replacement scrum-half. Agustín Ormaechea is the established name, though the season of Tomás Inciarte sees a projected change. Both Juan Manuel Alonso and José Iruleguy had strong SLAR campaigns with the latter being deemed sufficient to make the replacements.
Peñarol used Andrés Vilaseca at fly half when required. This is possible for the RWC qualifiers; albeit, not expected. Instead, Felipe Etcheverry’s name is likely to be among the replacements. The alternative is for Agustín Ormaechea or Rodrigo Silva to play out of position at fly half to cover Berchesi. This has transpired in the past. Silva missed matches late in the SLAR season; in other words, both he and Etcheverry are short of game time while Tomás Inciarte helps piece the puzzle together.
PROJECTED ADDITIONAL ROSTER
| 24 | Facundo Gattas | Peñarol | HK |
| 25 | Mateo Perillo | Peñarol | LH |
| 26 | Ezequiel Ramos | Peñarol | TH/HK |
| 27 | Tomás Etcheverry | Cafeteros Pro (CO) | LO |
| 28 | Juan Manuel Rodríguez | Valpolicella (IT) | LO |
| 29 | Juanjuan Garese | Peñarol | FL/LO |
| 30 | Felipe Aliaga | Peñarol | LO |
| 31 | Carlos Deus | Peñarol | FL |
| 32 | Eric Dosantos | Peñarol | FL |
| 33 | Maxime Sonneveld | Old Boys | FL |
| 34 | Alejandro Nieto | Peñarol | N8 |
| 35 | Santiago Álvarez | Peñarol | SH |
| 36 | Agustín Ormaechea | Nice (FR) | SH |
| 37 | Juan Manuel Alonso | Peñarol | CE/WI |
| 38 | Felipe Arcos Pérez | Peñarol | CE |
| 39 | Federico Favaro | Peñarol | WI |
| 40 | Leandro Leivas | Toronto Arrows | WI |
| 41 | Rodrigo Silva | Peñarol | FB |
The long-list from 24 to 41 underlines Uruguay’s now-extensive list of professional rugby players. SLAR players will all be at the High Performance Center at Montevideo’s Estadio Charrúa. Maxime Sonneveld joins them. He missed the SLAR season due to surgery. The flanker remains one of Uruguay’s top prospects; hence, his inclusion.
Three players based outside of Uruguay are also included. All three will be pressing for places in the match day 23 as will many from Peñarol. In short, Uruguay will be well-prepared for the challenge of facing two of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Paraguay.
