Top 14 star among several high-profile omissions from Uruguay squad

Uruguay have revealed their 33-player roster for the upcoming World Rugby Nations Cup, with the Teros missing several of their main starters.

Castres scrum-half Santiago Arata, who was called up by the Barbarians this month, is one of the biggest omissions from the playing squad.

Arata, 29, is one of the few Uruguayans in history to play as a full-time professional in a major European league, and has been capped 42 times.

Regular skipper Manuel Leindekar is also among the absentees, with the captain nursing a minor injury and focusing on recovering in time to join his new club, FC Grenoble, for pre-season.

Hooker Germán Kessler, back-rower Santiago Civetta and Baltazar Amaya weren’t named for the inaugural three rounds of the Nations Cup, although they are expected to get involved in November.

Prop Francisco Suárez and utility back Felipe Etcheverry are currently injured and won’t recover in time.

Conversely, Rodolfo Ambrosio and his staff will be able to count on some reinforcements from abroad, such as: Arturo Ten Hoever (Niort – Nationale 2), Franco Scaldaferri (Colorno – Serie A Elite), Francisco González Capdevila (SIC – URBA), Juan Gonzalez (Worcester Warriors – Champ Rugby), Jean Cotarmanac’h (RC Vannes – ProD2) and Ignacio Dotti (CF ‘Os Belenenses’ – Portugal’s Top12).

The Teros staff also called up four uncapped players who have represented Uruguay’s 7s in SVNS2: centres Ivan Peters and Alfonso Vidal and scrum-halves Pedro Hoblog and Ignacio Rodríguez Bosch.

Despite half the squad being uncapped, Uruguay will still be able to rely on the experience of Manuel Diana, Ignacio Dotti, and Mateo Sanguinetti, with the latter outlining the team’s objective for the Nations Cup in a recent interview with RugbyPass.

“The Nations Cup is going to be a very good competition for us, as we are playing against strong teams while going on tour, which are experiences that strengthen the team. These are the challenges we need to face ahead of the World Cup.”

Uruguay will host Georgia on July 4, Romania on July 11, and Hong Kong China on July 18, with all matches set to be played at Montevideo’s Estadio Charrúa.