Berchesi in First Start for Uruguay since World Cup

Felipe Berchesi has been given his first start for Uruguay since the World Cup. The Carcassonne fly half was given rest time during both the June Internationals and Americas Rugby Championship. Uruguay has been coached by Argentine Esteban Meneses since the World Cup.

The return of Berchesi will not see him reuniting with Agustín Ormaechea. To the contrary Ormaechea will miss this match. He is expected to start the remaining tests this month against Spain and Romania. Meneses has named Guillermo Lijtenstein in place of Ormaechea and has also given him the captaincy.

The remainder of the backline underlines Uruguay’s desire to build for the future. Manuel Blengio has been given an opportunity at fullback. This sees Rodrigo Silva playing right wing while Andrés Rocco will play left wing.

At 28 years of age Jerónimo Etcheverry is the oldest back. Despite usually playing in the back-three he will play outside center. Nicolás Freitas joins him in the mid-field.

The pack also sees Uruguay giving opportunities to new players. Among the missing is Mario Sagario. Starting at Tight Head will be Juan Echeverría. He joins Mateo Sanguinetti and 21-year-old hooker Facundo Gattás in the front-row.

The transformation from flanker to second-row continues for Diego Magno. He will be joined by Diego Ayala in the engine room. The highly promising Joaquín Dell’Acqua and Gonzalo Soto both earn starts in the back-row. The third member will be Santiago Hernández who will make his test debut.

Also on debut will be Marcos Chamyan and Juan Manuel Cat. Both have been named as replacements. Chamyan will cover hooker while Cat will cover both fly half and center.

URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Facundo Gattás, 3 Juan Echeverría, 4 Diego Magno, 5 Diego Ayala, 6 Joaquín Dell’Acqua, 7 Santiago Hernández, 8 Gonzalo Soto, 9 Guillermo Lijtenstein (capt.), 10 Felipe Berchesi, 11 Andrés Rocco, 12 Nicolás Freitas, 13 Jerónimo Etcheverry, 14 Rodrigo Silva, 15 Manuel Blengio

Replacements: 16 Marcos Chamyan, 17 Ignacio Secco, 18 Francisco Jiménez, 19 Ignacio Dotti, 20 Juan Manuel Gaminara, 21 Santiago Arata, 22 Mauro Daverio, 23 Juan Manuel Cat