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Wales and Uruguay have named their rosters for their Pool A opener on September 20th. Sam Warburton leads out a Wales side that has been decimated with injuries to key players in their buildup to the Rugby World Cup.
Wales Head Coach Warren Gatland is on the hot seat as he names his side to take on Pablo Lemoine’s Teros. The Uruguayan side will be led by second-rower Santiago Vilaseca whose teammate and hooker Carlos Arboleya is the team’s most experienced player with 51 caps.
None of the 23 players named to face Wales have prior Rugby World Cup experience. Missing is second-rower Rodrigo Capó Ortega who decided against playing in the tournament due to his wife expecting a baby. Without Capó Ortega vital experience at the elite level is missing but Uruguay’s lineup nonetheless contains three French based and one Italian based player.
The halves combination of Agustín Ormaechea and Felipe Berchesi is the highlight of Uruguay’s backline and is a more than respectable combination being at the level of Tier two nations. A lot of hope is also being placed on the front-row and scrum in general but Uruguay will be up against one of Europe’s best scrums and Wales welcome back the impressive Samson Lee at tighthead.
Wales come into the 2015 World Cup with an All-Time RWC record of 18-14 having made appearances at every World Cup to date. Wales looks to overcome their injuries and advance past the pool state for the second consecutive World Cup. Wales fell in the semifinals of the 2011 World Cup to France.
Uruguay are making their third appearance at the World Cup and their first since 2003. Uruguay holds an All-Time RWC record of 2-5 having won one match in 1999 and one in 2003. Picking up a win this year may prove to be daunting as they face a slate that includes Wales, Fiji, England, and Australia.
The Pool A match will be the first ever meeting between Wales and Uruguay and will take place at the home of Welsh rugby, Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium. The two teams kick off their 2015 Rugby World Cup campaigns on September 20, 2015 at 9:30am EST.
Wales
1 Paul James, 2 Scott Baldwin, 3 Samson Lee, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Luke Charteris, 6 Sam Warburton (Captain), 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 James King, 9 Gareth Davies, 10 Rhys Priestland, 11 Hallam Amos, 12 Scott Williams, 13 Cory Allen, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 15 Liam Williams
16 Ken Owens, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Ross Moriarty, 22 Lloyd Williams, 23 Matthew Morgan
Uruguay
1 Alejo Corral, 2 Carlos Arboleya, 3 Mario Sagario, 4 Santiago Vilaseca (Captain), 5 Jorge Zerbino, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara, 7 Matías Beer, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Agustín Ormaechea, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 11 Rodrigo Silva, 12 Andres Vilaseca, 13 Joaquín Prada, 14 Santiago Gibernau, 15 Gastón Mieres
16 German Kessler, 17 Oscar Durán, 18 Mateo Sanguinetti, 19. Franco Lamanna, 20 Agustín Alonso, 21 Juan de Freitas, 22 Alejo Durán, 23 Francisco Bulanti
