RWC 2023 Qualifiers Preview – Uruguay vs Chile

South America’s pivotal fixture of the year will take place on Sunday in Montevideo. Uruguay have home advantage against Chile in a Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifier. The two line-ups for the match underline the magnitude of Sunday’s match-up; neither side is taking any chances.

Uruguay have named a side that could take to the field in a RWC match. From 1-15 the players are mainstays in Los Teros. Head Coach Esteban Meneses has named a starting line-up with players from the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR), Major League Rugby (MLR), France and Italy.

Mateo Sanguinetti has been preferred to Juan Echeverría at loose head and Manuel Ardao starts ahead of Manuel Diana at N8. No other position can be speculated as having a potential surprise. Uruguay are going all-out as Chile represent a genuine threat.

Childhood friends Agustín Ormaechea, and Felipe Berchesi reunite in the halves. They do so with Santiago Arata watching from Castres. Andrés Vilaseca captains’ Los Teros outside of Berchesi. The remaining backs are a showcase of Uruguayan names from RWC 2019 and earlier: Nicolás Freitas, Gastón Mieres, and Rodrigo Silva in the back-three and Tomás Inciarte at outside center.

Chile have unparalleled inside knowledge. Head Coach Pablo Lemoine played for Uruguay at RWCs 1999 and 2003 and coached Los Teros at RWC 2015. He brings with him a style of play that suits Chile’s strengths and makes Los Cóndores more of a threat than in prior matches against Uruguay.

His line-up to face Uruguay is one to play to a 10-man rugby style. That is to say, Chile will play a tight game with the forwards looking to bruise Los Teros and this will come with the addition of forwards in the backline.

Lemoine’s line-up features two changes to the side that did so well last weekend in the win against Brazil. Nikola Bursic replaces Clemente Saavedra in the second-row. This will see a NOLA Gold match-up as Ignacio Dotti starts opposite Bursic for Los Teros. The second changes sees Santiago Videla in at fly half for the injured Francisco Urroz.

Chile’s bench sees more backs than last week. Changes give opportunities to José Larenas, and Iñaki Ayarza. Both players are demonstrated performers for Los Cóndores.

Test matches between Uruguay and Chile date back 39 years before the inaugural Rugby World Cup. Matches have been regular between Los Teros and Los Cóndores, though they did not become annual until after RWC 1999. Chile won the 2020 non-capped fixture and last came close in 2016.

Los Teros enter Sunday’s RWC 2023 qualifier as favorites to win. Historic results and RWC participation are sufficient to display this. Yet, Chile’s vast improvement in 2020 combined with Selknam in SLAR indicate that the match may go down to the wire.

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Germán Kessler, 3 Diego Arbelo, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 6 Franco Lamanna, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manuel Ardao, 9 Agustín Ormaechea, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 11 Nicolás Freitas, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Tomás Inciarte, 14 Gastón Mieres, 15 Rodrigo Silva

Replacements: 16 Guillermo Pujadas, 17 Juan Echeverría, 18 Matías Benítez, 19 Juan Garese, 20 Manuel Diana, 21 Eric Dosantos, 22 Felipe Etcheverry, 23 Felipe Arcos Pérez

CHILE
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Augusto Böhme, 3 Matías Dittus, 4 Nikola Bursic, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Martín Sigren (capt.), 7 Ignacio Silva, 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Santiago Videla, 11 Franco Velarde, 12 Matías Garafulic, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Nicolás Garafulic, 15 Rodrigo Fernández

Replacements: 16 Tomás Dussaillant, 17 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 18 Salvador Lues, 19 Augusto Sarmiento, 20 Tomás Orchard, 21 Nicolás Herreros, 22 José Larenas, 23 Iñaki Ayarza

Date: Sunday, July 18
Kick-Off: 4:10pm
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant Referees: Gonzalo De Achaval (Argentina); Gianlucca Gnacchi (Italy)
TMO: Marcelo Pilara (Argentina)
Broadcasts: ESPN (Latina Americana); ESPN (Brasil); Twitch

Historical Results

2019-02-09 Uruguay 20, Chile 05 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2018-02-24 Chile 15, Uruguay 67 (Santiago, Chile)
2017-05-27 Uruguay 27, Chile 11 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2017-03-04 Uruguay 45, Chile 14 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2016-05-07 Uruguay 39, Chile 14 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2016-02-27 Chile 20, Uruguay 23 (Santiago, Chile)
2015-05-09 Chile 30, Uruguay 15 (Santiago, Chile)
2014-05-10 Uruguay 55, Chile 13 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2013-05-04 Uruguay 23, Chile 09 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2012-05-23 Chile 26, Uruguay 27 (Santiago, Chile)
2011-05-20 Uruguay 18, Chile 21 (Puerto Iguazú, Argentina)
2010-05-19 Chile 19, Uruguay 36 (Santiago, Chile)
2009-05-02 Uruguay 46, Chile 09 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2008-11-22 Uruguay 46, Chile 12 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2007-08-25 Chile 34, Uruguay 35 (Santiago, Chile)
2006-07-22 Uruguay 43, Chile 15 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2005-05-11 Uruguay 34, Chile 25 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
2004-05-01 Chile 13, Uruguay 20 (Santiago, Chile)
2003-04-27 Uruguay 20, Chile 13 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2002-07-27 Chile 10, Uruguay 06 (Santiago, Chile)
2002-07-09 Uruguay 34, Chile 23 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2002-05-01 Uruguay 33, Chile 16 (Mendoza, Argentina)
2001-10-13 Uruguay 26, Chile 07 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
2000-11-12 Uruguay 11, Chile 09 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1998-04-04 Chile 14, Uruguay 20 (Santiago, Chile)
1997-08-24 Uruguay 32, Chile 17 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1995-09-24 Chile 13, Uruguay 31 (Santiago, Chile)
1993-10-09 Uruguay 14, Chile 06 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1992-09-20 Uruguay 37, Chile 15 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1991-09-08 Chile 18, Uruguay 34 (Santiago, Chile)
1990-11-04 Chile 27, Uruguay 33 (Santiago, Chile)
1989-12-10 Uruguay 19, Chile 17 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1987-09-30 Chile 19, Uruguay 33 (Santiago, Chile)
1985-09-21 Uruguay 09, Chile 03 (Asunción, Paraguay)
1983-07-20 Uruguay 25, Chile 03 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1981-05-24 Uruguay 33, Chile 03 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1979-10-12 Uruguay 09, Chile 09 (Santiago, Chile)
1977-10-27 Uruguay 21, Chile 10 (Tucumán, Argentina)
1975-09-25 Uruguay 07, Chile 15 (Asunción, Paraguay)
1973-10-14 Uruguay 13, Chile 10 (São Paulo, Brazil)
1971-10-12 Uruguay 06, Chile 11 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1969-10-08 Chile 13, Uruguay 06 (Viña del Mar, Chile)
1967-09-24 Uruguay 11, Chile 16 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1964-08-18 Uruguay 15, Chile 08 (São Paulo, Brazil)
1961-10-12 Uruguay 05, Chile 28 (Montevideo, Uruguay)
1958-10-11 Chile 34, Uruguay 09 (Santiago, Chile)
1951-09-16 Uruguay 08, Chile 03 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
1948-08-05 Uruguay 03, Chile 21 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

OVERALL RESULTS
Uruguay 37 Wins
Chile 10 Wins
Draws 1