Uruguay and Namibia chop and change for crunch Rugby World Cup clash in Lyon

Namibia head coach Allister Coetzee has made seven alterations to his run-on side, including some positional switches, for their final match at this year’s Rugby World Cup against Uruguay in Lyon on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Los Teros head coach Esteban Meneses makes four changes to his starting line-up as they aim to bounce back after suffering a 38-17 defeat to Italy in their previous game.

Namibia will be without their regular captain Johan Deysel who has been suspended after he was red carded for an illegal hit on France skipper Antoine Dupont in their previous match which Les Bleus won 96-0.

Deysel has been replaced by Alcino Izaacs at outside centre in one of four changes to the Welwitschias’ backline with Cliven Loubser moving from fly-half to full-back where he replaces Andre van der Bergh, while Tiaan Swanepoel comes in to wear the number 10 jersey and Damian Stevens takes over from Jacques Theron at scrum-half.

It will be Namibia’s final appearance of this year’s Rugby World Cup and they are still searching for an overdue victory to end their tournament losing streak.

Tjiuee Uanivi to lead the Welwitschias

Meanwhile, Tjiuee Uanivi takes over the captaincy from Deysel and packs down on the openside flank – where he replaces Johan Retief – while he is joined in the back-row by Richard Hardwick and Prince Gaoseb, who packs down at number eight and blindside flank respectively.

The other changes see Tiaan de Klerk joining Adriaan Ludick in the second-row while Torsten van Jaarsveld and Jason Benade come in at hooker and loosehead prop where they have been referred to Louis van der Westhuizen and Desiderius Sethie.

For Uruguay, Bautista Basso comes into the run-on side at the expense of Gaston Mieres on the right wing while Felipe Arcos Perez lines up at outside centre in place of Tomas Inciarte, alongside Los Teros skipper Andres Vilaseca who will wear the number 10 jersey.

There are two more changes in the forwards with Carlos Deus getting the nod ahead of Manuel Diana at number eight while Diego Arbelo packs down on the tighthead side in Ignacio Peculo’s place.

Despite losing their two previous matches against France and Italy, Uruguay have been competitive in both those games, pushing Les Bleus all the way in Lille, and even leading 17-7 at half-time against the Azzurri.

Vilaseca believes a win for Uruguay will confirm his team’s progress at the Rugby World Cup.

“Uruguay has only won three games in all the history of the Rugby World Cup, and this adds perhaps some pressure on our side,” he said. “We must accept this as there are a lot of people talking about the good performances we are having at this World Cup.

“We have received very nice messages, too, but the truth is that if we do not win against Namibia we wouldn’t confirm this great progress.”

While Los Teros have given a good account of themselves, Namibia have battled as they have conceded a whopping 219 points in defeats to Italy, New Zealand and France.

“It is tough to play four matches in 18 days for any tier two country,” said Coetzee. “When you don’t have a lot of depth in your squad it is really a challenge, but I must say our players have really stepped up.

“I call them warriors because it is really not easy when you have teams getting 12 days, 13 days, two weeks off until the next game.

“This is our fourth game, our final game, playing against a quality Uruguay side, and it will only be their third game.”

The teams

Uruguay: 15 Baltazar Amaya, 14 Bautista Basso, 13 Felipe Arcos Perez, 12 Andres Vilaseca (c), 11 Nicolas Freitas, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 9 Santiago Arata, 8 Carlos Deus, 7 Santiago Civetta, 6 Manuel Ardao, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 4 Felipe Aliaga, 3 Diego Arbelo, 2 German Kessler, 1 Mateo Sanguinetti
Replacements: 16 Guillermo Pujadas, 17 Facundo Gattas, 18 Reinaldo Piussi, 19 Juan Manuel Rodríguez, 20 Eric Dosantos, 21 Agustin Ormaechea, 22 Felipe Berchesi, 23 Juan Manuel Alonso

Namibia: 15 Cliven Loubser, 14 Gerswin Mouton, 13 Alcino Izaacs, 12 Danco Burger, 11 JC Greyling, 10 Tiaan Swanepoel, 9 Damian Stevens, 8 Richard Hardwick, 7 Tjiuee Uanivi (c), 6 Prince Gaoseb, 5 Tiaan de Klerk, 4 Adriaan Ludick, 3 Johan Coetzee, 2 Torsten van Jaarsveld, 1 Jason Benade
Replacements: 16 Louis van der Westhuizen, 17 Desiderius Sethie, 18 Haitembu Shifuka, 19 PJ Van Lill, 20 Max Katjijeko, 21 Adriaan Booysen, 22 Jacques Theron, 23 Andre van der Bergh

Date: Wednesday, September 27
Venue: OL Stadium, Lyon
Kick-off: 17:45 local (16:45 BST, 15:45 GMT)
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees: Nic Berry (Australia), Chris Busby (Ireland)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (Wales)

READ MORE: Loose Pass: Rugby World Cup diary on Movers’ Day, Eddie’s legacy and that Springboks ‘stamp’