RWC 2023 Qualifiers Preview – Uruguay vs Brazil

All eyes will be on the Estadio Charrúa on Sunday. Uruguay have home advantage against Brazil in the final fixture of South American Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifiers. Two of Uruguay, Brazil and Chile will advance to face North American opposition. One of the three will be eliminated.

A Uruguayan victory will see Los Teros advancing as South America 1 (SAR 1). If they do win against Brazil then their next match will be against North America 1 (RAN 1). RAN 1 will be the winner of Canada vs the USA in September.

Chile has one foot in the door to the next round. In their two on-field RWC 2023 qualifiers Los Cóndores defeated Brazil and fell to a narrow loss against Uruguay. Chile has 5 points, Uruguay 4, and Brazil 0. An Uruguayan win would see Chile advance. A draw or a loss by 7 or less would also suffice for Chile.

Brazil face an inauspicious task. Os Tupis require a win by more than 8 points. Doing so would be monumental; indeed, Brazil needs to end a losing streak dating back to the 1960s.

Click here for a detailed explanation of the South American RWC 2023 qualifying picture.

Uruguay go into Sunday’s match with three changes. First, rampant try scorer Germán Kessler will watch from the sidelines. His absence sees Guillermo Pujadas starting at hooker. Second, Manuel Diana starts at N8. This sees Manuel Ardao moving to flanker and Franco Lamanna dropping to the bench. Third, Tomás Inciarte makes way for Felipe Arcos Pérez at outside center.

Chile’s scrum caused Uruguay problems last Sunday. This has not gone unnoticed by Brazil. Head Coach Fernando Portugal has named the bulldozer Jardel Vettorato at tight head prop. He will be joined by two additional titans in Leonel Moreno,  and Wilton Rebolo.

Brazil has had the better at the scrum in the past. Many took notice of Brazil’s performance in this area against the Maori All Blacks. Os Cobras looked to play with more versatility in SLAR this year; therefore, indications are that Brazil will look to win the battle up front while attacking through the channels out wide.

Uruguay’s team will be prepared for trench warfare. Test line-up comes with an extra forward on the bench. Of them Diego Magno will earn his 93rd cap. Magno is already the most capped Americas test match player in history. Scrum-half Agustín Ormaechea won his 50th cap last weekend. He is set to go the full 80 minutes against Brazil as Uruguay have no specialist scrum-half on their bench.

The South American neighbors have a long history of international competition in rugby. Los Teros have dominated, though Brazil has documented test match wins over Uruguay. They took place many decades ago. First, Brazil won 3-0 in 1953 in Montevideo. Second, Brazil won 13-5 in São Paulo in 1962. However, there was also a 3-0 win in 1963. That match is not recognized as a test by Uruguay. The third win was in 1964.

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Diego Arbelo, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manel Diana, 9 Agustín Ormaechea, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 11 Nicolás Freitas, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 14 Gastón Mieres, 15 Rodrigo Silva

Replacements: 16 Juan Echeverría, 17 Ignacio Péculo, 18 Matías Benítez, 19 Franco Lamanna, 20 Diego Magno, 21 Eric Dosantos, 22 Felipe Etcheverry, 23 Federico Favaro

BRAZIL
1 Leonel Moreno, 2 Wilton Rebolo, 3 Jardel Vettorato, 4 Matteo Dell’Acqua, 5 Gabriel Paganini, 6 Cléber Días, 7 Matheus Cláudio, 8 André Arruda, 9 Douglas Rauth, 10 Joshua Reeves, 11 Robert Tenorio, 12 Moisés Duque, 13 Felipe Sancery (capt.), 14 Daniel Sancery, 15 Lucas Tranquez

Replacements: 16 Leonardo Souza, 17 Lucas Abud, 18 Matheus Rocha, 19 Adrio de Melo, 20 Arthur Bergo, 21 Felipe Cunha, 22 Lucas Spago, 23 Laurent Bourda-Couhet

Date: Sunday, July 25
Kick-Off: 4:10pm
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Gonzalo De Achaval (Argentina); Gianlucca Gnacchi (Italy)
TMO: Marcelo Pilara (Argentina)
Broadcasts: ESPN (Latina Americana); ESPN (Brasil); Twitch

Historical Results

2019-08-30 Uruguay 43, Brazil 5 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2019-03-09 Uruguay 42, Brazil 20 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2018-02-10 Brazil 18, Uruguay 27 (São Paulo, Brazil)
2017-05-20 Uruguay 41, Brazil 27 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2017-02-18 Uruguay 23, Brazil 12 (Punta del Este, Uruguay)
2016-04-23 Brazil 14, Uruguay 36 (São Paulo, Brazil)
2016-02-12 Brazil 29, Uruguay 33 (São Paulo, Brazil)
2015-04-18 Uruguay 48, Brazil 9 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2014-05-03 Brazil 9, Uruguay 34 (Bento Gonçalves, Brazil)
2013-05-01 Uruguay 58, Brazil 7 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2012-05-26 Uruguay 27, Brazil 15 (Santiago, Chile)
2011-05-17 Uruguay 39, Brazil 18 (Puerto Iguazú, Argentina)
2010-10-13 Uruguay 26, Brazil 10 (Santiago, Chile)
2009-04-29 Uruguay 71, Brazil 3 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1993-09-23 Brazil 5, Uruguay 55 (São Paulo, Brazil)
1991-09-28 Uruguay 37, Brazil 7 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1989-10-07 Uruguay 44, Brazil 13 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1981-05-21 Uruguay 77, Brazil 0 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1979-10-06 Brazil 0, Uruguay 48 (Santiago, Chile)
1977-10-30 Brazil 15, Uruguay 47 (Tucumán, Argentina)
1975-09-23 Brazil 7, Uruguay 38 (Asunción, Paraguay)
1973-10-18 Brasil 6, Uruguay 16 (São Paulo, Brazil)
1971-10-14 Uruguay 37, Brazil 11 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1964-08-22 Brazil 15, Uruguay 8 (São Paulo, Brazil)
1963-08-15 Uruguay 28, Brazil 0 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1962-09-09 Brazil 13, Uruguay 5 (São Paulo, Brazil)
1961-10-08 Uruguay 11, Brazil 8 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1953-05-09 Uruguay 0, Brazil 3 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1951-09-16 Uruguay 17, Brazil 10 (Tucumán, Argentina)
1950-09-11 Uruguay 08, Brazil 06 (Montevideo, Uruguay)

OVERALL RESULTS
Uruguay 27 Wins
Brazil 3 Wins