Uruguay Roster Confirmed for World Cup Preparations

Los Teros have confirmed a 46-man roster for 2023. The training squad contains all of the players under consideration to represent Uruguay at Rugby World Cup 2023. The roster has veterans of past Rugby World Cups as well as many looking to earn the right to play for their country on the grandest stage of them all for the first time.

Uruguay’s roster is a combination of players from Super Rugby Americas, foreign leagues and Los Teros 7’s. Every player is from Uruguay and went through the domestic system. Uruguay will be one of only a few entirely homegrown teams competing at Rugby World Cup 2023.

The long-list already comes with some notable non-selections. Veteran prop Juan Echeverría is missing. He played Super Rugby Americas 2023 for the American Raptors. Head Coach Esteban Meneses has preferred three Peñarol players in his position.

A second notable omission comes at flanker. Morales’ roster does not include Franco Lamanna. The veteran of Rugby World Cups 2015 and 2019 notably also covers second-row. Unlike the past two tournaments, however, Uruguay now has plenty of tall-timber. This combined with better rest days means that Uruguay will not need to start a shorter and lighter player to lock the scrum.

Lamanna’s non-selection signals that his test career is over. He played the recently completed season in Italy. It was his third for Mogliano. He has also played professional rugby in England and France.

Another missing name is Juan Manuel Cat. His name is less of a surprise as, despite having held down a starting spot at the last World Cup, Cat decided to walk away from Peñarol for career purposes. He is playing the 2023 season in Buenos Aires where he is starting for CUBA at fly half.

Finally, José Maria Iruleguy has not been included. He has impressed for the Uruguay XV and Uruguay previously. While Iruleguy is missing there are many other names not from Peñarol who will prepare for the Rugby World Cup warm-up matches.

Uruguay’s roster contains a total of 24 forwards and 22 backs. Inside center Andrés Vilaseca is the captain. The product of Old Boys plays his rugby for Vannes in France. He is the younger brother of Santiago Vilaseca who captained Uruguay at Rugby World Cup 2015.

Vilaseca and Uruguay have three Rugby World Cup warm-up matches. Los Teros will play all three at home. They face Chile, Namibia and the Argentina XV in Montevideo. The match against the African country will be a preview of one of Uruguay’s World Cup matches.

Uruguay’s RWC match against Namibia will be the first between the countries at Rugby World Cups. The exciting fixture will be Uruguay’s third match of the tournament. It is placed after Uruguay’s match against France in Lille and against Italy in Nice. Uruguay face both Namibia and New Zealand in Lyon.

Uruguay will play in yellow rather than blue against France, Italy, and Namibia. The matches against France and New Zealand will be historic. Uruguay has never previously played a test match against either country. The Argentina XV warm-up match will be the toughest preparation before the World Cup. Of note is that, despite upsetting Fiji in Kamaishi, Uruguay was unable to play any home match against a Tier 1 side during the RWC 2019-2023 cycle.

 

URUGUAY ROSTER – RUGBY WORLD CUP TRAINING

LOOSE HEAD
Matías Benítez (Peñarol)
Mateo Perillo (Peñarol)
Mateo Sanguinetti (Peñarol)

HOOKER
Emiliano Faccennini (Peñarol)
Facundo Gattas (Old Glory DC, US)
Germán Kessler (Provence, FR)
Guillermo Pujadas (Peñarol)

TIGHT HEAD
Diego Arbelo (Peñarol)
Mathias Franco (Peñarol)
Ignacio Peculo (Peñarol)
Reinaldo Piussi (Peñarol)

SECOND-ROW
Felipe Aliaga (Peñarol)
Ignacio Dotti (Peñarol)
Tomás Etcheverry (Peñarol)
Manuel Leindekar (Bayonne, FR)
Diego Magno (American Raptors, US)
Agustín Morales (Peñarol)

FLANKER
Manuel Ardao (Peñarol)
Lucas Bianchi (Peñarol)
Santiago Civetta (Peñarol)
Carlos Deus (Peñarol)
Eric Dosantos (Peñarol)

N8
Manuel Diana (Peñarol)
Juan Manuel Rodríguez (Peñarol)

SCRUM-HALF
Santiago Álvarez (Peñarol)
Santiago Arata (Castres, FR)
Agustín Ormaechea (Nice, FR)
Juan Manuel Tafernaberry (Peñarol)

FLY HALF
Felipe Berchesi (Dax, FR)
Felipe Etcheverry (Peñarol)

CENTER
Felipe Arcos Pérez (Los Teros 7’s)
Koba Brazionis (Los Teros 7’s)
Nicolás Freitas (Vannes, FR)
Tomás Inciarte (Peñarol)
Andrés Vilaseca (Vannes, FR)
Juan Andrés Zuccarino (Peñarol)

WING
Diego Ardao (Los Teros 7’s)
Juan Manuel Alonso (Peñarol)
Baltazar Amaya (Los Teros 7’s)
Bautista Basso (Los Teros 7’s)
Ignacio Facciolo (Los Teros 7’s)
Gastón Mieres (Peñarol)
Alfonso Silva (Peñarol)
Mateo Viñals (Los Teros 7’s)

FULLBACK
Ignacio Álvarez (Los Teros 7’s)
Rodrigo Silva (Peñarol)

 

WORLD CUP WARM UP

July 29       vs (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, UY)

August 05 vs (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, UY)

August 19 vs (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, UY)

 

RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023

September 14 vs  (Lille, FR)

September 20 vs (Nice, FR)

September 27 vs (Lyon, FR)

October 05      vs (Lyon, FR)