The final day of the tournament is at hand and for both sides it couldn’t come a moment too soon. The Americans have lost their entire starting back row either to injury or suspension, while Uruguay have lost two players of their own to injury and had their best number eight suspended. You get the feeling both coaches would be happy just to finish with fifteen players on the field, but the match remains winnable for either team and with it a chance to salvage some pride.
Fans of the USA would have gone into this tournament with higher hopes, if not to beat Argentina and Canada at least to draw them close, and things have not gone to plan. Coach Mike Tolkin would be the first to admit that his side have been frustratingly sterile in attack, scoring a lowly six points through two games while missing several opportunities both with ball in hand and via the boot. This time he has opted to bring Zach Pangelinan into his favoured flyhalf position, bumping Gearoid McDonald to inside center and will hope that at least one of them will bring their A game in the kicking department. He will also look for leadership from scrumhalf Shaun Davies who steps into the captaincy with Cameron Dolan out with a knee injury.
A suspended John Quill joins Dolan on the sidelines, as does Taylor Mokate who is ruled out with a broken toe. The revamped back row now gives Eric Duechle his first start in what is a big opportunity for him, with hirsute Kris Headlee on the other flank. Tom Katzfey drops back from his usual lock role to number eight. Derek Asbun returns at hooker despite a dodgy ankle, while Zach Fenoglio fills in at loosehead and the ponderous Tim Paulsen hopes to stem the scrum tide at tighthead. Two new second rows have been called onto the bench to provide cover in the large forms of Will Haydock and Aaron Fry.
Los Teros have lost flyhalf Felipe Berchesi and flanker Fernando Bascou to injury, while Juan Ormaechea has been suspended. In comes Alejo Duran for his first start with Rodrigo Silva slotting over onto the left wing. The rest of the backline has a settled look to it, with only scrumhalf Francisco Vecino differing from the arrangement that started the tournament. Center combination Rodrigo Martinez and Santiago Gibernau have started every match and have put in a huge amount of tackles along the way.
In the pack Pablo Lemoine has opted for his most experienced front row with captain Arturo Avalo at its center, while his two biggest second rows start together for the first time to add extra bulk. Look for speed across the ground from Juan de Freitas, usually a center but selected at openside flanker. Tuesday’s standout player Diego Magno will hope to inspire again from the back of the scrum.
Uruguay will target an under fire US scrum, and should look to test the defensive capabilities of the American inside backs. Without a genuine openside the speed advantage at the breakdown will be with Los Teros, and they will try and work through the phases to tire the American defense. Unless they can get quick ball to Dean Gericke or Miles Craigwell out wide there doesn’t appear to be many offensive threats in the American side. A tough call in the end but look for a slight upset here as Uruguay just edges it by 3 in a low scoring affair.
UNITED STATES
Chris Chapman; Cornelius Dirksen, Dean Gericke, Gearoid McDonald, Miles Craigwell; Zach Pangelinan, Shaun Davies (capt.); Zach Fenoglio, Derek Asbun, Tim Paulsen; Nick Civetta, Graham Harriman; Eric Duechle, Kris Headlee, Tom Katzfey. RES: Stan Moa’ali’i, Nick Wallace, Will Haydock, Aaron Fry, Benny Mateialona, Jack Tracy, Joe Cowley.
URUGUAY
Jeronimo Etcheverry; Gaston Mieres, Santiago Gibernau, Rodrigo Martinez, Rodrigo Silva; Alejo Duran, Francisco Vecino; Alejo Corral, Arturo Avalo (capt.), Juan Rombys; Mathias Palomeque, Cristofer Soares; Franco Lammana, Juan de Freitas, Diego Magno. RES: Sebastian Sagario, Oscar Duran, Rodolfo de Mula, Mateo Sanguinetti, Agustin Alonso, Guillermo Lijtenstein, Federico Favaro, Pablo Bueno.
