Preview: Uruguay XV vs Brazil XV

Game two of the South American 4 Nations will see the Uruguay XV and Brazil XV in Montevideo. The non-capped match will feature expanded replacement benches. The match marks the first international match for both teams in 2020.

Uruguay’s captain Andrés Vilaseca will not start the match. He has been named as a replacement. The decision sees a fresh mid-field. Juan Pablo Castro joins Nicolás Freitas in the centers. The latter starts on the wing for Uruguay throughout the RWC 2015-2019 cycle. His future may well be at outside center.

Fellow RWC backs Federico Favaro, Rodrigo Silva, and Felipe Etcheverry will also all start. Etcheverry will notably do so at fly half. He has the profile to truly stand-out in the position. It comes at the ideal opportunity as Uruguay are missing Felipe Berchesi, and Juan Manuel Cat.

Up front Uruguay have a mix of youth and RWC experience. Santiago Civetta captains the side from flanker. He joins Leandro Segredo and Manuel Diana in the back-row. The trio will provide Uruguay with a tremendous unit at the breakdown.

Juanjuan Garese and Lorenzo Surraco will lock the scrum. They have one cap between them. They will play behind a front-row of Ezequiel Ramos, Guillermo Pujadas, and Diego Arbelo. Of the trio only Ramos is uncapped.

Brazil are again captained by Felipe Sancery. He will start in the mid-field alongside veteran Moíses Duque. Daniel Lima and Daniel Sancery are additional familiar names in the back-line. There are some surprises though with Douglas Rauth and Lucas Spago starting ahead of Laurent Bourda-Couhet and Josh Reeves.

In the forwards Brazil has the outstanding Lucas Abud at loose head. he joins Endy Pinheiro, and Matheus Rocha in the front-row. Kauã Guimarães will make his first appearance for his country in the second-row, partnering Gabriel Paganini. Matheus Cláudio and André Arruda will be joined by Devon Muller in the back-row. Muller is now eligible for Brazil via residency.

Os Tupis will have powerful replacements up front; both Yan Rosetti and Wilton Rebolo will be eager to enter from the bench.

Uruguay’s winning run over Brazil dates back to 1964. A lot has changed in the world since then, and this also applies to rugby. Uruguay’s four RWC appearances make the country an established name on the sporting globe. Brazil, meanwhile are seeking to qualify for a first-ever RWC.

The RWC 2015-2019 cycle saw Brazil coming a long way. Progress included wins over Belgium, Canada, Chile and the USA. Brazil clearly overtook Chile to officially become the third strongest men’s test side in South America.

Uruguay are a tough opponent. Claiming a win on Saturday would be a remarkable achievement. Uruguay’s missing players certainly level out the playing field. Notwithstanding, Uruguay are well positioned to win comparably. Uruguay enter as favorites to win by 15 points.

 

TEAMS

URUGUAY XV
1 Ezequiel Ramos, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Diego Arbelo, 4 Juanjuan Garese, 5 Lorenzo Surraco, 6 Leandro Segredo, 7 Santiago Civetta (capt.), 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Guillermo Lijtenstein, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Juan Manuel Alonso, 12 Juan Pablo Castro, 13 Nicolás Freitas, 14 Federico Favaro, 15 Rodrigo Silva

Replacements: 16 Agustín Conserva, 17 Ignacio Péculo, 18 Felipe Aliaga, 19 Federico di Bueno, 20 Ignacio Rodríguez, 21 José Iruleguy, 22 Andrés Vilaseca, 23 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 24 Eric Dosantas, 25 Nahuel Sánchez

BRAZIL XV
1 Lucas Abud, 2 Endy Pinheiro, 3 Matheus Rocha, 4 Kauã Guimarães, 5 Gabriel Paganini, 6 Matheus Cláudio, 7 Devon Muller, 8 André Arruda, 9 Douglas Rauth, 10 Lucas Spago, 11 Daniel Silva, 12 Moisés Duque, 13 Felipe Sancery (capt.), 14 Roberto Tenorio, 15 Daniel Sancery

Replacements: 16 Yan Rosetti, 17 Wilton Rebolo, 18 Henrique Ferreira, 19 Leonardo Souza, 20 Gabriel Oliveira, 21 Adrio de Melo, 22 Rafael Teixeira, 23 Felipe Gonçalves, 24 Lucas Tranquez, 25 Lorenzo Massari, 26 Laurent Bourda-Couhet

Date: Saturday, October 17
Kick-Off: 6:45pm
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Referee: Damián Schneider (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Nehuén Jauri Rivero (Argentina), Frank Méndez (Chile)