Match Preview – Uruguay vs Chile

Uruguay are riding the wave following their win over Canada in Maldonado. All that stands between a third-place finish in the Americas Rugby Championship is Chile, a team who are in last place on the table and have not won a match in the competition since the opener against Brazil in 2016. It was Chile, however, who nearly threw a wrench in Uruguay’s tournament last season, very nearly getting a result in La Reina and ultimately losing by only three points.

It’s Chile whose side looks the most different a year on. Only four starters return from that match but the turnover does not necessarily mean improvement. Manuel Gurruchaga has retained the captaincy with Claudio Zamorano and Benjamín Soto left to concentrate on putting their best performance on the field after each sitting out the last game with suspension. Combative flanker Cristóbal Niedmann replaces Arturo Seeman in a move geared at combating Juan Manuel Gaminara at the breakdown – the two players are strikingly similar in body composition and playing style.

While Zamorano and Nikola Bursic will offer some go-forward up front, Simón Pardakhty is inexplicably left out in the midfield leaving a question of who can take the ball hard to the line. Ricardo Sifri is half the size of Pardakhty and José Ignacio Larenas more a slashing runner. Mauricio Urrutia is selected on the wing despite normally playing in the midfield. There is at least hope with the return of Rodrigo Fernández at fullback. Other than some fleeting moments from Tomás Ianiszewski, Fernández has been the bright spot in an otherwise unimpressive Chilean backline.

Los Teros have been the most consistent side in the Championship in terms of personnel, with changes minimal from week to week. Diego Magno is recalled to the second row and will celebrate his record 68th test cap. While the absence of Diego Ayala will weaken the lineout, the selection of Rodolfo Garese on the flank should mitigate that somewhat. Garese was tipped to be a breakthrough player before the tournament but hasn’t had the opportunities after the blitz in Bahía Blanca and Gaminara’s return.

The backs remain identical though new sensation Santiago Arata will miss the match after taking a beating against Canada. Guillermo Lijtenstein is a capable replacement at scrumhalf and with a simple game plan that keeps the ball largely among the forwards it’s unlikely this will have much if any effect on the game. Defensively the backs have been solid and Chile are unquestionably their least potent opponents of the competition in that regard.

What the Chileans do have is a solid set piece, something that Ignacio Dotti will be tasked with disrupting. If parity is achieved at the scrum it’s the tight-loose where Uruguay will look to flex their muscles, though again they may find things slow going at least in the first hour. Look for the Chileans to wear down eventually and the superior physical preparation of Los Teros to make the difference in the final quarter.

 

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Martín Espiga, 3 Juan Echeverría, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Diego Magno, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.), 7 Rodolfo Garese, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 9 Guillermo Lijtenstein, 10 Germán Albanell, 11 Nicolás Freitas, 12 Andrés Vilaseca, 13 Juan Manuel Cat, 14 Leandro Leivas, 15 Rodrigo Silva

Replacements: 16 Facundo Gattas, 17 Matías Benítez, 18 Mario Sagario, 19 Diego Ayala, 20 Gonzalo Soto, 21 Lucas Durán, 22 Gastón Mieres, 23 Juan de Freitas

CHILE
1 Claudio Zamorano, 2 Manuel Gurruchaga (capt.), 3 José Tomás Munita, 4 Mario Mayol, 5 Nikola Bursic, 6 Cristóbal Niedmann, 7 Anton Petrowitsch, 8 Benjamín Soto, 9 Juan Pablo Larenas, 10 Francisco González Moller, 11 Tomás Ianiszewski, 12 Ricardo Sifri, 13 José Ignacio Larenas, 14 Mauricio Urrutia, 15 Rodrigo Fernández

Replacements: 16 Rodrigo Moya, 17 Vittorio Lastra, 18 Lucas Bordigoni, 19 Manuel Dagnino, 20 Arturo Seeman, 21 Sergio Bascuñan, 22 Jorge Castillo, 23 Martín Fernández

 

Date: Saturday, March 4
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Kickoff: 15:00 local (10:00 Pacific, 13:00 Eastern)
Referee: Kurt Weaver (USAR)
Assistants: Claudio Cattivelli (URU) & Martín Bangueses (URU)
Broadcasts: ESPN, TSN Go