Uruguay make wholesale changes for Wales clash
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Uruguay have made nine changes for the match against Wales in Kumamoto as they look to go out of World Cup 2019 on a high.
Coach Esteban Meneses has again changed his whole back row, reverting to a more experienced combination in front of Santiago Arata who comes in for Agustin Ormaechea at scrumhalf. No.8 Manuel Diana, who scored Los Teros’ only try against Australia on Saturday, drops to the bench.
“We want to have a good game against what we already know is a very difficult opponent, regardless of which players line up for Wales,” said 23-year-old Arata. “We want to leave Japan with our heads held high.”
Centre Andres Vilaseca and Juan Manuel Gaminara, who returns as captain after appearing as a replacement against the Wallabies, are among five starters who also lined up against Wales at RWC 2015. Both will be making a record eighth World Cup appearance for Uruguay.
Uruguay: 15 Gaston Mieres, 14 Leandro Leivas, 13 Juan Manuel Cat, 12 Andres Vilaseca, 11 Nicolas Freitas, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 9 Santiago Arata, 8 Alejandro Nieto, 7 Santiago Civetta, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara, 6 Juan Manuel Gaminara, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 3 Diego Arbelo, 2 German Kessler, 1 Mateo Sanguinetti.
Replacements: 16 Guillermo Pujadas, 17 Juan Echeverria, 18 Juan Pedro Rombys, 19 Diego Magno, 20 Manuel Diana, 21 Agustin Ormaechea, 22 Tomas Inciarte, 23 Rodrigo Silva.
Date: Sunday, October 13
Venue: Kumamoto Stadium, Kumamoto City
Kick-off: 17.15 (05.15 Uruguay time; 08.15 GMT; 09.15 UK & Ireland time)
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce (England), Karl Dickson (England)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)
@rugbyworldcup
In other news:
