[RWCQ] Uruguay vs. United States. 1st Leg, 22/03/14

[LittleGuy]

Uruguay vs. United States. Rugby World Cup Qualifying, America's Round 3. 22/03/14, Kickoff TBD Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, Uruguay

Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)



The battle for the last direct America's (#2) RWC spot and a presence in Pool B during the aformentioned event, starts a little under a month away in Uruguay with the return fixture a week later in the United States.

The loser will still continue to be in the running for the repechage spot and will take on the 2nd place Five Nations Cup team out of Asia(likely to be Hong Kong or South Korea) later in the year.

Obviously the 18th ranked Eagles should be heavy favourites over the 20th ranked Los Teros, but Uruguay can be plucky at home and this leg could be a little tighter than it looks at first glance. Over the two game format it's hard to see a path for Uruguay to come out as the America's #2 seed, and these games will probably serve as more of a build up for them as they head into the repechage battles later in the year. They have already received a big blow with Ortega not being available for this series.

The Eagles can use this as a chance to get some game time together pre-June and to test a few newly capped players and new combinations, they'll also get a decent test in the set pieces which is the one area that Uruguay should be able to compete with them to some degree.


Uruguay

1. Alejo Corral
2. Arturo Avalo (Captain)
3. Oscar Duran
4. Mathias Palomeque
5. Santiago Vilaseca
6. Juan Gaminara
7. Diego Magna
8. Alejandro Nieto
9. Agustin Oraemechea
10. Felipe Berchesi
11. Jeronimo Etcheverry
12. Andres Vilaseca
13. Joaquin Prada
14. Leandro Lievas
15. Gaston Mieras

Bench

16. Nicholas Klappenbach
17. Rodolfo De Mula
18. Mario Sagaria
19. Cristofer Soares De Lima
20. Franco Lammana
21. Juan De Freitas
22. Alejo Duran
23. Francisco Bulanti



U.S.A. Eagles

1. Olive Kilifi
2. Phil Thiel
3. Eric Fry
4. Hayden Smith
5. Samu Manoa
6. Todd Clever (C)
7. Scott LaValla
8. Cam Dolan
9. Mike Petri
10. Toby L'Estrange
11. Tim Maupin
12. Andrew Suniula
13. Folau Niua
14. Blaine Scully
15. Chris Wyles

Reserves

16. Tom Coolican
17. Nick Wallace
18. ***i Lamositele
19. Louis Stanfill
20. Kyle Sumsion
21. Shalom Suniula
22. Seamus Kelly
23. Luke Hume

 

[usausa]

Los Teros gave them problems four years ago. If the Eagles don't show up focused it could make for an upset.

 

[LittleGuy]

Los Teros gave them problems four years ago. If the Eagles don't show up focused it could make for an upset.

They are plucky at home, Canada have lost in Montevideo before and had other tight games there, and Uruguay could very well get 7,000 or so fans out to the match if they market it really well. Missing Ortega is a big blow to their chances, hopefully he'll be available in the rest of the repechage rounds.

 

[norcalbuff]

Los Teros gave them problems four years ago. If the Eagles don't show up focused it could make for an upset.

A road victory and a 20+ point win in the return leg aren't really what I'd call problems. We would likely win this series even with an entirely domestic based team, but fortunately it sounds like we will have pretty much all of our pros available. We'll likely find out for sure later this week when the squad gets announced.

They are plucky at home, Canada have lost in Montevideo before and had other tight games there, and Uruguay could very well get 7,000 or so fans out to the match if they market it really well. Missing Ortega is a big blow to their chances, hopefully he'll be available in the rest of the repechage rounds.

Uruguay are notorious for dirty things at home. I think it was the 2002 RWCQ match in Montevideo where the fans threw batteries at the US players. Still don't see them offering much resistance on aggregate.

 

[usausa]

It's all in the first game. If the US shows up uninspired and substandard like they did in stretches last summer then they will have tough time. If we see the US side that played better in the fall then I think the US will be ok. But Uruguay could have a momentum boost for those guys if they can grind a ****ly little home leg win. Not predicting a Uruguay win, but I don't think we should be taking these games lightly as just a couple of bumps. It's not like the Eagles had a walk in the park for either of those two matches. First leg almost blown with penalties and late scores, second leg was tight too for most of match, only a 20pt game because Captain Toddy (I think?) put one in bank at end but that was a 1 score game for awhile. Again, not predicting a Uruguay win, but if the Eagles don't show up focused ready to go it could be a lot closer than people are comfortable with.

 

[djwizard84]

I dislike this process for the Americas, it should be kind of Americas Nations Cup (Consur A + Canada & USA). That would bring a lot to the sport in the continent and if we have something like in Europe with the different levels, even better!

 

[LittleGuy]

I dislike this process for the Americas, it should be kind of Americas Nations Cup (Consur A + Canada & USA). That would bring a lot to the sport in the continent and if we have something like in Europe with the different levels, even better!

That's how the qualifying used to be run for the America's back in the 90's and early 00's. What ended up happening is the U.S.A. and Canada slaughtered everyone(barring sometimes Uruguay) and it really made the early stages of qualifying reduntant.

 

[norcalbuff]

That's how the qualifying used to be run for the America's back in the 90's and early 00's. What ended up happening is the U.S.A. and Canada slaughtered everyone(barring sometimes Uruguay) and it really made the early stages of qualifying reduntant.

I think it would be a boring way nowadays because there is more of a gap between the NA teams and the SA teams than there used to be, but the last time the format was this way, Chile beat the US in Chile and was competitive in most of its matches and Uruguay beat the US and Canada in Uruguay.

 

[djwizard84]

you think now a days would be the same? I mean Uruguay and Chile are willing to be serious with the sport and of course they would be very happy to have some big tournament a year after year against tier 2 Nations.

 

[LittleGuy]

you think now a days would be the same? I mean Uruguay and Chile are willing to be serious with the sport and of course they would be very happy to have some big tournament a year after year against tier 2 Nations.

I would like to see more games between these sides, Chile are getting fairly close to Uruguay's level. Perhaps the America's Rugby championship in the fall could get expanded to include another side or move into a capped tournament at some point. Unfortunately some years the ARC hasn't been taken seriously by the participants, Canada did not take it ery seriously in 2013 and the States didn't in 2012.

 

[Jaguares]

C'mon Uruguay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Vamos los Teros, carajo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soy celeste! Soy celeste! Soy! Celeste yo sooooooooooooooooooooooy

 

[norcalbuff]

I would like to see more games between these sides, Chile are getting fairly close to Uruguay's level. Perhaps the America's Rugby championship in the fall could get expanded to include another side or move into a capped tournament at some point. Unfortunately some years the ARC hasn't been taken seriously by the participants, Canada did not take it ery seriously in 2013 and the States didn't in 2012.

Chile would definitely be a nice addition to the ARC.

I think the thing with the NA sides seemingly taking it seriously or not depends on a lot of factors. Both sides use it to see whether players are ready for a higher level or not, but particularly for the US since we don't have anything like the CRC, it can be a bit hit or miss on who can actually cut it at that level. I'd also think the US and Canada would tend to take it more seriously (domestic national team rather than domestic development team) the year before the RWC than earlier in the cycle.

 

[LittleGuy]

Not a particularly good sign for Los Teros as they lost a warm up match to the Argentine junior side 28-14, though I don't have lineup details or a big game synopisis available right now(it's possible Uruguay were starting some odd combo's or running out some bench guys). http://rugbyworldcup-argentina2023.blogspot.com.br/2014/03/los-pumitas-complete-impressive-win.html

Edit: Was linked to a lineup and synopsis by Paul Tait a few hours ago and it was a slightly weaker Uruguayan side, lacking it's pro's and some slightly strange combinations, mainly a workout game for the domestic guys.

 

[mihneadds]

I see USA as a certqin favourite... however i would like to see an upset from Uruguay

 

[dragos03]

I don't think Uruguay has any chance at all in this fixture, USA is just much stronger.

Los Teros could upset Russia in the repechage though.

 

[norcalbuff]

Looks like the IRB site will stream the matches. The return match in Atlanta will be televised by Universal in the US.

 

[LittleGuy]

Looks like the IRB site will stream the matches. The return match in Atlanta will be televised by Universal in the US.

Excellent news.

 

[norcalbuff]

USA 26 man squad for Uruguay:

Men's Eagles | Rugby World Cup 2015 Qualifier v Uruguay
Todd Clever - NTT Shining Arcs
Tom Coolican - Richmond RFC
Miles Craigwell - Seattle-OPSB
Cameron Dolan - Northampton FC
Eric Fry - London Scottish RFC
Luke Hume - Narbonne
Seamus Kelly - University of California
Olive Kilifi - Seattle-OPSB
***i Lamositele - Saracens RFC
Scott LaValla - Stade Francais
Toby L'Estrange - London Welsh RFC
Samu Manoa - Northampton FC
Tim Maupin - Olympic Club
Folau Niua - Glasgow Warriors
Mike Petri - New York Athletic Club
Blaine Scully - Leicester Tigers RFC
Robbie Shaw - London Scottish RFC
Hayden Smith - Saracens RFC
Louis Stanfill - Seattle-OPSB
Kyle Sumsion - Brigham Young University Rugby
Andrew Suniula - London Wasps RFC
Shalom Suniula - Seattle-OPSB
Phil Thiel - Life Rugby
Tai Tuisamoa - Old Mission Beach Athletic Club
Nick Wallace - James Bay RFC
Chris Wyles - Saracens RFC

 

[Tony Manx]

USA 26 man squad for Uruguay:

Men's Eagles | Rugby World Cup 2015 Qualifier v Uruguay
Todd Clever - NTT Shining Arcs
Tom Coolican - Richmond RFC
Miles Craigwell - Seattle-OPSB
Cameron Dolan - Northampton FC
Eric Fry - London Scottish RFC
Luke Hume - Narbonne
Seamus Kelly - University of California
Olive Kilifi - Seattle-OPSB
***i Lamositele - Saracens RFC
Scott LaValla - Stade Francais
Toby L'Estrange - London Welsh RFC
Samu Manoa - Northampton FC
Tim Maupin - Olympic Club
Folau Niua - Glasgow Warriors
Mike Petri - New York Athletic Club
Blaine Scully - Leicester Tigers RFC
Robbie Shaw - London Scottish RFC
Hayden Smith - Saracens RFC
Louis Stanfill - Seattle-OPSB
Kyle Sumsion - Brigham Young University Rugby
Andrew Suniula - London Wasps RFC
Shalom Suniula - Seattle-OPSB
Phil Thiel - Life Rugby
Tai Tuisamoa - Old Mission Beach Athletic Club
Nick Wallace - James Bay RFC
Chris Wyles - Saracens RFC

No Zee?

 

[norcalbuff]

Either out of favor or being left with his club. Although leaving him with Biarritz seems pointless as they look to be guaranteed relegation. Either way, should be fine without him. He hasn't done a whole lot in an Eagles jersey since the 2007 RWC. Scully, Maupin and Hume will be just fine.