Test Match Preview – Italy vs Uruguay

The 2021 November Internationals will conclude for Italy and Uruguay on Saturday. Their match-up is a special one; the teams will meet at RWC 2023 in France. This weekend’s match will give the players, staff and supporters a unique preview into what is a rare fixture.

Italy are a team with strong meaning to many in the Americas. Italy and Uruguay are in the same pool of RWC 2023. In addition, former Canadian Men’s head coach Kieran Crowley is now Italy’s head coach and his line-up to face Uruguay on Saturday has two Americas players in the starting XV.

Juan Ignacio Brex will start at outside center and Iván Nemer will start at tight head prop. Both players were born and raised in Argentina and went through the Argentine High Performance Centers. Past Italian teams have also regularly had Argentine born-and-raised players. They include three of Italy’s biggest names of all-time; indeed, Martín Castrogiovanni, Diego Domínguez, and Sergio Parisse were primarily produced by Argentine clubs.

What differs between Brex and Nemer compared to Castrogiovanni, Dómínguez, and Parisse is that the present generation had exposure to high performance academies while those from the past did not.

Brex and Nemer both qualify for Italy via a grandparent. They are not alone; Italy’s lineup is cosmopolitan. Crowley has players from Argentina, Australia, England, Fiji, Germany, Guinea, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe in his 23. Some moved to Italy as children. Many did not.

The team itself is rotated from last week. There are seven changes in all from the side that lost against Argentina in Treviso. Five of the changes come in the forwards and two in the backs. Up front there will be starts for Federico Ruzza and Marco Fuser in the second-row, Abraham Steyn at N8, and Luca Bigi and Danilo Fischetti join Nemer in the front-row. Pierre Bruno and Callum Braley earn starts in the backline.

Uruguay also have ties to Argentina and Italy. Head coach Esteben Meneses is from La Plata and played professional rugby in Italy for Calvisano and Amatori Alghero. Hooker Facundo Gattas spent time playing for Hindú in Argentina while winger Gastón Mieres previously played for Valpolicella in Italy and flanker Franco Lamanna has numerous years of experience playing abroad, primarily in Italy.

All 23 of Los Teros are from Uruguay and all are products of Uruguayan rugby. Those based in Uruguay are Peñarol players. The team finished second to Los Jaguares XV in the 2021 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR).

Peñarol is the country’s first professional rugby team. There are plans for others. The team utilizes the leading academy players and trains at the same facility as does Uruguay’s test team, the Estadio Charrúa.

Meneses goes into the match with a similar line-up to that which saw Los Teros defeating the USA to qualify for RWC 2023 as Americas 1. This includes the return of Manuel Leindekar who will bolster the second-row. The fit-again Germán Kessler starts at hooker.

The backs see Tomás Inciarte preferred to veteran Agustín Ormaechea at scrum-half. The decision comes with Santiago Arata being unavailable. Fellow starting backs Felipe Berchesi and Andrés Vilaseca are out through injuries as is forward Ignacio Dotti.

Uncapped backs Juan Manuel Alonso and Mateo Viñals have been named as replacements. Both are very much in the frame for places at RWC 2023. The newcomers are joined by the Americas’ most capped player of all-time; Diego Magno will earn cap 97 in the match.

The match is to be just the fourth test match between Italy and Uruguay. It is the just the second in Italy and the first since 1999. The winner of Italy vs Uruguay will end November with a victory. Both teams are 0-2 thus far in November.

 

ITALY
1 Danilo Fischetti, 2 Luca Bigi, 3 Iván Nemer, 4 Marco Fuser, 5 Federico Ruzza, 6 Sebastián Negri, 7 Michele Lamaro, 8 Abraham Steyn, 9 Callum Braley, 10 Paolo Gabrisi, 11 Montanna Ioane, 12 Luca Morisi, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 14 Pierre Bruno, 15 Edoardo Padovani

Replacements: 16 Epalahame Faiva 17 Cherif Traore 18 Pietro Ceccarelli 19 David Sisi 20 Giovanni Licata 21 Alessandro Fusco 22 Carlo Canna 23 Ratuva Tavuyara

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Germán Kessler, 3 Diego Arbelo, 4 Eric Dosantos, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Tomás Inciarte, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Gastón Mieres, 12 Nicolás Freitas, 13 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 14 Federico Favaro, 15 Rodrigo Silva

Replacements: 16 Facundo Gattas, 17 Ignacio Peculo, 18 Matías Benítez, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Franco Lamanna, 21 Agustín Ormaechea, 22 Mateo Viñals, 23 Juan Manuel Alonso

Date: Saturday, November 20, 2021
Kick-Off: 2pm (Italy); 10am (Uruguay)
Venue: Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi, Parma
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistant Referee 1: Ludovic Cayre (France)
Assistant Referee 2: Tual Trainini (France)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

HISTORIC RESULTS
2007-06-02 – Uruguay 05, Italy 29 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2001-07-07 – Uruguay 03, Italy 14 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1999-08-22 – Italy 49, Uruguay 17 (L’Aquilla, Italy)