February 19, 2016
Uruguay – Argentina XV: Americas Rugby Championship Preview
Logos: Americas Rugby Championship
Doug Coil
In a round 3 Americas Rugby Championship match, Uruguay is home against Argentina XV Saturday at the Estadio Burgueño in Maldonado.
Uruguay Head Coach Esteban Meneses has made six changes from the side that beat Brazil last week. Juan Manuel Gaminara has returned as captain. Three players will start in this competition for the first time. They are Andrés Rocco at wing, Facundo Klappenbach at center, and Juan Diego Ormaechea a flanker. The latter last appeared in international competition in 2013. In other changes, Germán Kessler is at hooker, Mathias Palomeque at lock, and Martín Secco at flyhalf.
Argentina XV Head Coach Pablo Bouza has made eleven changes for Uruguay. The front row remains unchanged with captain Roberto Tejerizo at loosehead prop, and Santiago Iglesias Valdez and Cristian Bartolini at hooker and tighthead pro, respectively. Pedro Ortega also remains at Lock. Changes also include Ignacio Larrague at Lock and a new backrow of José Deheza and Lautaro Bávaroat Flanker and Santiago Portillo at eightman.
Marcos Bollini will debut at scrumhalf and link with flyhalf Juan Novillo. Bautista Ezcurra moves to center from flyhalf, as Joaquín Paz is in South Africa playing for the Jaguares. Juan Cappiello will earn his first start at center. Segundo Tuculet moves to fullback, while Axel Müller and Franco Cuaranta and at wing.
The match kicks off at 8:30pm Uruguay time, 6:30pm EST, and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
Uruguay Squad: 1 Mateo Sanguinetti 2 Germán Kessler 3 Juan Echeverría 4 Diego Magno 5 Mathias Palomeque 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara (capt.) 7 Juan Diego Ormaechea 8 Alejandro Nieto 9 Guillermo Lijtenstein 10 Martín Secco 11 Andrés Rocco 12 Andrés Vilaseca 13 Facundo Klappenbach 14 Federico Favaro 15 Santiago Martínez 16 Facundo Gattas 17 Rodolfo de Mula 18 Ignacio Secco 19 Ignacio Dotti 20 Fernando Bascou 21 Manuel Blengio 22 Santiago Arata 23 Pedro Deal
Argentina XV Squad: 1 Roberto Tejerizo (c), 2 Santiago Iglesias Valdez, 3 Cristian Bartoloni, 4 Pedro Ortega, 5 Ignacio Larrague, 6 José Deheza, 7 Lautaro Bávaro, 8 Santiago Portillo, 9 Marcos Bollini, 10 Juan Novillo, 11 Axel Müller, 12 Bautista Ezcurra, 13 Juan Cappiello, 14 Franco Cuaranta, 15 Segundo Tuculet 16 Axel Zapata, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Enrique Pieretto, 19 Gonzalo Paulín, 20 Miguel Urtubey, 21 Mauro Perotti, 22 Juan Cruz González, 23 Pedro Mercerat
In other Americas Rugby Championship Round 3 action, the United States plays Chile and Canada plays Brazil.
Argentina XV and the United States lead the standings after round 2 with 8 points, Canada and Uruguay are next with 5 points, Chile has 4 and Brazil has 2.
