Uruguay v Hong Kong China
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Referee: Craig Evans (Wales)
This is only the second meeting between these sides, with the first coming in 2014. Both Los Teros and Hong Kong China will be desperate to finish this half of the competition on a high after a winless first two matches.
Los Teros especially have been knocking on the door of a win, after a narrow loss to Georgia followed by a draw against Romania. They’ll look to build on their clinical attacking performances, which has seen them score 11 tries in two matches, including a hat-trick from Joaquin Myszka last weekend. Failing to beat a side that were reduced to at least a man down for the last 15 minutes of the match will certainly be something that they’ll have tried to push aside as all concentration is now on an unfamiliar opponent in Hong Kong China.
Regardless of Saturday’s result, Hong Kong China will finish this half of the tournament positive about the fact that they’ve had the chance to test themselves against this level of opposition a year out from their maiden Men’s Rugby World Cup. In their match against Chile, they were only two points down at half-time but again discipline was the common denominator as they received four yellow cards and one red, which ultimately was not a sustainable way of staying in the match until the end. There’s still potential in this side to try and pull off a fantastic result, something captain Pierce Mackinlay-West spoke about after their game against Chile, saying, “if we can write a few wrongs it’s gonna be a hell of a game.”
Los Teros have only made one change to the starting side that drew with Romania, with Franco Scaldaferri in for Ignacio Alvarez Akiki on the left wing.
Hong Kong China have made six changes to the starting team with Keelan Chapman, James Rivers, Matteo Avitabile, Seb Brien, Tom Hill and Matthew Worley coming in, while Marcus Ramage moves from right-wing to outside-centre.
