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Uruguay’s two match tour of Japan concludes on Saturday. Los Teros take on Japan at the Mikuni World Stadium in Kitakyushu. The South Americans will be looking to respond to their loss in game one on Saturday while the Japanese are eyeing-up a test series victory.
Japan’s 35-15 victory had given the team confidence to make changes. Head Coach Jamie Joseph has named the uncapped South Africa Gerhard van den Heever on the right wing. Replacements Yukio Morikawa, Sanaila Waqa and Lee Seung Sin will also make their test debuts for Japan.
The line-up sees veteran Michael Leitch back to start at flanker. His 72 caps will be joined by Ben Gunter, and Faulua Makisi in the back-row. Both players will earn their third cap. Second-rower Warner Dearns will earn his second cap and center Dylan Riley will earn his fifth.
Of Japan’s fifteen starting players, eight are from abroad. All of them qualify for Japan via residency. This is in contrast to Uruguay’s line-up. Los Teros are entirely homegrown. All twenty-three players are from Uruguay and are products of the domestic system.
The team is hybrid; it consists of a mixture of established players from past RWCs and players targetting a first RWC. The front-row reflects this as Juan Echeverría earns his 61st cap while Ignacio Peculo will earn his 6th. Guillermo Pujadas again starts at hooker.
Uruguay’s decision to play flanker Eric Dosantos in the second-row continnues. He will start alongside Diego Magno who will earn his 99th cap to be just one away from becoming the first player to have 100 caps for an Americas test side.
Last week’s debutant Lucas Bianchi starts again at flanker. Emiliano Faccennini, Tomás Etcheverry and Santiago Alvarez both debuted in the first test match. They are on the bench for game two. SLAR rookie Bautista Basso will make his test debut on the left wing while Mathias Franco awaits his first opportunity from the bench.
Japan had the better of the set-piece in game one. This area is likely to be a feature of who wins the battles during the course of the match. Overall, the Japanese side is arguably stronger than that which took to the field in Tokyo. Uruguay must be on their game if they are to compete for a win.
TEAMS
JAPAN
1 Keita Inagaki, 2 Atsushi Sakate (capt.), 3 Yusuke Kizu, 4 Jack Cornelsen, 5 Warner Dearns, 6 Michael Leitch, 7 Ben Gunter, 8 Faulua Makisi, 9 Naoto Saito, 10 Takuya Yamasawa, 11 Siosaia Fifita, 12 Yusuke Kajimura, 13 Dylan Riley, 14 Gerhard van den Heever, 15 Ryuji Noguchi
Replacements: 16 Shota Horie, 17 Yukio Morikawa, 18 Asaeli Ai Valu, 19 Sanaila Waqa, 20 Masato Furukawa, 21 Daiki Nakajima, 22 Lee Seung Sin, 23 Shogo Nakano
URUGUAY
1 Juan Echeverria, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Ignacio Peculo, 4 Eric Dosantos, 5 Diego Magno, 6 Lucas Bianchi, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manuel Ardao, 9 Tomas Inciarte, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Baustista Basso, 12 Andres Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Nicolas Freitas, 14 Juan Manuel Alonso, 15 Rodrigo Silva
Replacements: 16 Emiliano Faccennini, 17 Matias Benitez, 18 Mathias Franco, 19 Tomás Etcheverry, 20 Franco Lamanna, 21 Santiago Alvarez, 22 Mateo Vinals, 23 Baltazar Amaya
Date: Saturday, June 25
Kick-Off: 3:05pm (Japan); 3:05am (Uruguay)
Venue: Mikuni World Stadium, Kitakyushu (JP)
Referee: Graham Cooper (RA)
Assistant Referees: Mike Fraser (New Zealand); Reuben Keane (Australia)
TMO: Oli Kellett (Australia)
HISTORICAL RESULTS
June 18, 2022: Japan 34-15 Uruguay, Tokyo, JP
August 29, 2015: Japan 40-0 Uruguay, Tokyo, JP
August 22, 2015: Japan 30-8 Uruguay, Fukuoka, JP
April 16, 2005: Uruguay 24-18 Japan, Montevideo, UY
