Rugby World Cup 2023 
[Source: Unión de Rugby del Uruguay/ Facebook]
Head coach Esteban Meneses has named his squad to face France in Stade de Pierre-Mauroy in Lille on Friday, with Castres scrum-half Santiago Arata back in the starting XV after recovering from a hand injury.
Head coach Esteban Meneses has named an experienced line-up with 11 survivors in his starting team from RWC 2019 in Mateo Sanguinetti, Guillermo Pujadas, Manuel Leindeker, Manuel Ardao, Santiago Civetta, Manuel Diana, Santiago Arata, Felipe Etcheverry, Nicolas Freitas, Abdres Vilaseca and Tomas Inciarte, and a further three players on the bench.
Five players in the match-day 23 play their club rugby in France, with Santiago Arata for Castres, Nicolas Freitas and Andrés Vilaseca for Vannes, Manuel Leindekar for Bayonne and Agustin Ormaechea for Nice.
Felipe Etcheverry, Tomas Inciarte and Baltazar Amaya all represented Uruguay at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022, with Amaya scoring the second-most tries of any player in Cape Town last year with five.
Etcheverry has generated much of Uruguay’s attack this season with a team-high 24 carries for 178 metres and four offloads, and the second-most defenders beaten with five.
Captain Andrés Vilaseca and Agustin Ormaechea will become the first Uruguayans to play at three Rugby World Cup tournaments and set a new appearance record in their ninth game
Agustin Ormaechea’s father Diego still holds the Rugby World Cup record for being the oldest player ever to play a game, aged 40 years and 26 days when he stepped onto the field against South Africa in Glasgow at RWC 1999.
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