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The feature match on the final day of the 2018 Americas Rugby Championship pits two World Cup sides – Uruguay against the USA – opposite each other in Montevideo. A win for the USA will see the Eagles becoming the first team to win the ARC Grand Slam, and the first repeat champions. For Uruguay it will see their winning streak in test rugby extended to 15 victories. As if any added incentive were required, the winner of this match will secure the No2 spot in the Americas rankings.
In a sense the USA’s destiny is in their hands. Having beaten the Argentina XV in round one, two competition points will be enough to claim the title. That means a draw or even a two-point loss would be enough. There are a multitude of other possibilities should the Argentines fail to defeat Brazil, but the most obvious path to the title is simply to defeat Los Teros at the Estadio Charrúa.
To do will not be a simple task. The Eagles have stumbled there in the past, falling by 29-25 in the final round of the 2016 ARC. This Uruguay team features a similar list of players but they have grown considerably as a team over those two years. By contrast only three members of the USA squad from that day remain, but there are distinct similarities in terms of progress.
The selections of both countries has been influenced by player availability. Missing are most of the European-based players. For the USA the likes of Titi Lamositele, Samu Manoa, and Blaine Scully. In the case of Uruguay this means the five who were involved in the RWC qualifiers series over Canada.
The side announced by Esteban Meneses is nonetheless very potent. It is the strongest possible Teros side for the game with the Head Coach having strategically planned for the match by resting players between facing Canada and the USA. In addition others were substituted early against Chile, with Ignacio Dotti and Rodrigo Silva leaving the match at half-time.
There is only one change in terms of personnel to the forward pack. Mario Sagario and Alejandro Nieto remain injured but Juan Manuel Gaminara is back to captain the side with Rodolfo Garese shifting to the second row in place of Diego Ayala. It’s a change that concedes significant bulk in the scrum, suggesting that Los Teros will look to play an expansive game against the physically imposing Eagles.
Of note is a 50th cap for loosehead prop Mateo Sanguinetti. It’s a remarkable feat for a player who is only 25 years of age and who played lock at age grade level. He remains among the smallest front line props at Tier 2 level yet has proven his ability time and time again.
By far the most significant change comes at scrumhalf where Santiago Arata is fit to play after recovering from a shoulder injury suffered against Canada. Tomas Inciarte has done a commendable job in his stead but Arata is a game-changer with his lightning pace around the fringes able to unlock defenses.
Also returning is the outstanding Juan Manuel Cat at outside center, with Joaquin Prada unlucky to find himself on the bench this week. On the wing Nicolás Freitas is back taking the place of Federico Favaro. The latter does not even make the reserves after scoring two tries against the Cóndores, a strong indication of the increasing strength in depth available to Los Teros.
Gary Gold has largely kept the faith with his team selections throughout the tournament. This time he has made three changes to the run-on side, one enforced.
The team has suffered a blow with Nick Civetta handed a three-week suspension for his dangerous tackle against Brazil. Instead of choosing the similarly-proportioned Matt Jensen, however, Gold has handed a first test start to the hard-working Brendan Daly at lock.
Tony Lamborn returns at openside flank with Hanco Germishuys shifting to the blindside and Psalm Wooching to the bench. Along with Cam Dolan, the loose forward trio has been a pillar of strength for the Eagles during the competition.
A change that might have caught the Teros by surprise is the selection of Paul Lasike to start at inside center having come off the bench in the two preceding matches. He combines with Bryce Campbell to form a menacing midfield that will outweigh their opposites by a considerable margin.
Dylan Audsley makes way for Lasike but is retained in the side, instead shifted to fullback. Mike Te’o moves to the right wing with captain Nate Augspurger flipped to the left side. Josh Whippy is the odd man out who finds himself among the replacements.
Both teams feature a mix of first choice players and second-stringers looking to work their way up the ladder. Uruguay made short work of Chile last week and the USA handled Brazil with minimal difficulty.
This match looks to be a contrast of power and panache. The Eagles have Germishuys and Lasike to make dents in the line while Los Teros have danger men in Arata and Rodrigo Silva. With momentum at their back and history on their doorstep, the USA might just have that little bit extra motivation required to get the job done.
URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Germán Kessler, 3 Juan Echeverría, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Rodolfo Garese, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.), 7 Juan Diego Ormaechea, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Santiago Arata, 10 Germán Albanell, 11 Nicolás Freitas, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Juan Manuel Cat, 14 Leandro Leivas, 15 Rodrigo Silva
Replacements: 16 Matías Benítez, 17 Carlos Pombo, 18 Felipe Inciarte, 19 Diego Ayala, 20 Diego Magno, 21 Joaquín Prada, 22 Tomás Inciarte, 23 Gastón Mieres
USA
1 Huluholo Mo’ungaloa, 2 Dylan Fawsitt, 3 Chris Baumann, 4 Brendan Daly, 5 Ben Landry, 6 Hanco Germishuys, 7 Tony Lamborn, 8 Cam Dolan, 9 Shaun Davies, 10 Will Magie, 11 Nate Augspurger (capt.), 12 Paul Lasike, 13 Bryce Campbell, 14 Mike Te’o, 15 Dylan Audsley
Replacements: 16 Peter Malcolm, 17 Tony Purpura, 18 Dino Waldren, 19 Matt Jensen, 20 Psalm Wooching, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Ben Cima, 23 Josh Whippy
Date: Saturday, March 3
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Kickoff: 15:40 local (13:40 Eastern, 10:40 Pacific)
Referee: Federico Anselmi (UAR)
Broadcasts: The Rugby Channel (USA), TSN (Canada), ESPN3 (South America), World Rugby (Stream)
