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Uruguay play host to Hong Kong on Saturday as part of the World Rugby Nations Cup. The fixture is a battle for bragging rights as officially it is South America 2 playing host to Asia 2. Both teams will be looking for improvement given their respective results in the opening two rounds.
In Round 1, Uruguay lost a high-scoring end-to-end thriller 41–34 against Georgia. They rebounded in Round 2 with a 36–36 draw against Romania, showing brilliant attacking flair through dynamic backs like Felipe Arcos Pérez but ultimately splitting the tournament points.
Hong Kong had a tough defensive start in Round 1, getting overwhelmed 66–19 by Samoa in a dominant try-fest. In Round 2, they fell 38–17 to Chile in an old-fashioned forward clash where their discipline faltered, suffering four yellow cards during the match and leaving them without a bonus point.
Uruguay and Hong Kong are involved in the World Rugby Nations Cup because they both qualified for the expanded 24-team 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Participation is limited to Rugby World Cup 2027 teams who are not involved in the Nations Championship. Teams such as Belgium, Namibia and Brazil are excluded.
Under World Rugby’s new international calendar tier system launched in 2026, the World Rugby Nations Cup acts as the official second-division tournament. It was specifically designed to provide consistent, and meaningful competition for the 12 second-tier nations during the July and November international test windows.
The structural format and reasoning behind their inclusion is primarily Rugby World Cup preparation. The tournament serves as a crucial development pathway, allowing teams like Uruguay (a seasoned World Cup regular) and Hong Kong (preparing for their debut) to build early narratives and gain physical match experience against teams they will face in Australia.
It is organized in a cross-pool format. World Rugby split the 12 teams into two geographic groups. Uruguay is placed in the Americas-Pacific pool, while Hong Kong China sits in the European-African-Asian pool. Every team strictly plays the opponents from the opposite pool, which is why they are facing each other in the current July window.
There is no promotion to the Nations Championship; however, future promotion is a possibility. It remains to be seen whether or not a promotion and relegation system will be introduced between this second-tier Nations Cup and the top-tier Nations Championship, giving both countries a direct competitive pipeline to play elite tier-one rugby nations.
| FORM GUIDE |
URUGUAY – WORLD RANKING 17 (67.62)
| DATE | COMPETITION | OPPONENT | RESULT | SCORE | VENUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 4, 2026 | World Rugby Nations Cup | Georgia | Loss | 34–41 Georgia | Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo |
| July 11, 2026 | World Rugby Nations Cup | Romania | Draw | 36–36 | Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo |
HONG KONG – WORLD RANKING 24 (58.86)
| DATE | COMPETITION | OPPONENT | RESULT | SCORE | VENUE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 11, 2026 | World Rugby Nations Cup | Chile | Loss | 17-38 | Estadio Sausalito, Viña del Mar, Chile |
| July 5, 2026 | World Rugby Nations Cup | Samoa | Loss | 19-66 | Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile |
| July 4, 2026 | Friendly | HK China Dragons | Draw | 5-5 | Hong Kong FC, Hong Kong |
| June 8, 2026 | Asia Rugby Championship | South Korea | Win | 45-9 | Hong Kong FC Hong Kong |
| May 24, 2026 | Asia Rugby Championship | Sri Lanka | Win | 15-14 | Racecourse Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
| June 20, 2026 | Friendly | Singapore Select | Loss | 21-23 | Singapore |
| LINE-UP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 11 | Franco Scaldaferri | Ignacio Álvarez Akiki |
| 14 | Juan Gonzalez | Francisco González Capdevilia |
| 15 | Francisco González Capdevilia | Juan González |
|
IN | OUT |
| 3 | Keelan Chapman | Zac Cinnamond |
| 4 | James Rivers | Lachlan Doheny |
| 6 | Lachlan Doheny | Tyler McNutt |
| 10 | Matteo Avitabile | Joe Barker |
| 11 | Seb Brian | Harry Sawyer |
| 12 | Thomas Hill | Isaac Campbell-Wu |
| 13 | Marcus Ramage | Max Threlkeld |
| 14 | Paul Altier | Marcus Ramage |
| 15 | Matthew Worley | Paul Altier |
| DEBUT |
– Santiago Cagnone (LH), Máximo Lamelas (HK), Mateo Sosa (No. 8), Francisco Scaldaferri (WI).
| MOST CAPS |
– M Sanguinetti (98), I Dotti (74), M Diana (55), M Ardao (40), L Bianchi (28), F Aliaga (24).
– S Brien (26), A Post (25), P Altier (21), J Hrstich (21), Z Cinnamond (19), M Worley (16).
| LEAST CAPS |
– F Landauer (1), I Rodríguez Bosch (1), A Vidal (1), J Cotarmanac’h (4), F González Capdevilia, M Rosmarino (4)
– J Rivers (1), I Campbell-Wu (2), L Doheny (2), M Murphy (3), N Siu Lung (3), M Avitabile (3).
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Francisco Suárez (LH), Germán Kessler (HK), Guillermo Pujadas (HK), Diego Arbelo (TH), Ignacio Péculo (TH), Manuel Leindekar (LO), Santiago Civetta (FL), Carlos Deus (FL), Santiago Álvarez (SH), Santiago Arata (SH), Felipe Etcheverry (FH), Andrés Vilaseca (CE), Bautista Basso (WI), Baltazar Amaya (FB)
– Callum McFeat-Smith (TH), Patrick Jenkinson (LO), Mark Prior (LO), Callum McCullough (FL), Luke van der Smit (FL), Nathan DeThierry (FH), Ben Axten-Burrett (CE), Guy Spanton (WI)
| NOTES |
- The only prior test match between the teams was in 2014. It was a repechage match as part of Rugby World Cup Qualifying. Uruguay won 28-3. It was played at the same venue as where Saturday’s match will be.
- Second-rower Felipe Alaga captains the side with 24 caps in a heavily rotated lineup designed to build roster depth.
- Ignacio Dotti will earn his 75th cap for Uruguay.
- Uruguay’s total cap count is 422.
- Loosehead prop Mateo Sanguinetti leads the squad with 98 caps as he inches closer to the historic 100-cap milestone.
- Rodolfo Ambrosio’s one change sees Francisco Scaldaferri making his debut for Los Teros. Replacements Santiago Cagnone, Máximo Lamelas, and Mateo Sosa will also all earn their first caps.
- Máximo Lamelas will become a second generation Tero. His father, Diego Lamelas played in both the 1999 and 2003 Rugby World Cups. Following in his father’s footsteps, Máximo plays in the front row as a hooker.
- 3/23 of Ambrosio’s players are not from Uruguay. Jean Cotarmanac’h is from France) while Francisco González Capdevila and Santiago Cagnone are from Argentina. All are parent qualified for Los Teros.
- Head coach Logan Asplin has made nine changes to the Hong Kong starting lineup following their Round 2 loss to Chile. Lachlan Doheny changes from second-row to flanker with New Zealander Tyler McNutt out injured. Scrum-half is the only unchanged position in the backline.
- Replacement hooker Ng Siu Lung is the only ethnically Chinese player in the 23.
- Siu Lung is one of six homegrown players in the 23 to face Los Teros. Siu Lung is a fully local product who developed entirely within the domestic club pathway. Alexander Post, and Matteo Avitabile were all born in the city and trained at HKCR youth academies. Additionally, Matthew Worley and brothers Rory Cinnamond and Zac Cinnamond moved to Hong Kong as young children. In short, Uruguay’s 23-man lineup is 86.96% homegrown, which contracts with Hong Kong’s match-day squad at 26.09% homegrown.
- Flanker Lachlan Doheny is from Australia. He qualifies for Hong Kong via his mother was born in Hong Kong.
| LINE-UPS |
URUGUAY
1 Mateo Sanguinetti, 2 Joaquín Myszka, 3 Reinaldo Piussi, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 5 Felipe Aliaga (capt.), 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Lucas Bianchi, 8 Manuel Diana, 9 Joaquín Suárez, 10 Jean Cotarmanac’h, 11 Francisco Scaldaferri, 12 Juan Manuel Alonso, 13 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 14 Juan González, 15 Francisco González Capdevilia
Replacements: 16 Máximo Lamelas, 17 Mateo Perillo, 18 Santiago Cagnone, 19 Manuel Rosmarino, 20 Mateo Sosa, 21 Ignacio Rodriguez Bosch, 22 Francisco Landauer, 23 Alfonso Vidal
HONG KONG
1 Rory Cinnamond, 2 Alexander Post, 3 Keelan Chapman, 4 James Rivers, 5 Kyle Sullivan, 6 Lachlan Doheny, 7 Pierce Mackinlay-West, 8 Josh Hrstich (capt.), 9 Jack Combes, 10 Matteo Avitabile, 11 Seb Brian, 12 Thomas Hill, 13 Marcus Ramage, 14 Paul Altier, 15 Matthew Worley
Replacements: 16 Ng Siu Lung, 17 Sunia Fameitau, 18 Zac Cinnamond, 19 Maximilan Murphy, 20 Dana Fourie, 21 Brendon Nell, 22 Issac Campbell-Wu, 23 Maxwell Threlkeld
| PREDICTION |
| MATCH DETAILS |
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Date: Saturday, July 18
Kick-Off: 2:00pm (Uruguay); 1:00am Sunday (Hong Kong)
Weather: Light Rain Showers; 15°C Wind S 5 mph
Broadcast: Disney + (Uruguay); Rugby Pass
| MATCH OFFICIALS |
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
Assistants: Tomás Ninci (Argentina); Cauã Ricardo Santos (Brazil)
TMO: Dan Jones (England)
| HISTORY (2014-2026) |
| Date | Competition | Winner | Score | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2, 2014 | 2015 Rugby World Cup repechage | Uruguay | Uruguay 28–3 Hong Kong | Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo |
