Seven changes to starting XV - Uruguay name team to play New Zealand

Uruguay head coach Esteban Meneses has named his match-day 23 to play New Zealand in OL Stadium in Lyon on Thursday, with seven changes to the starting XV from the game against Namibia, including the return of the experienced Rodrigo Silva (pictured) at full-back.

1 Mateo Sanguinetti 
2 German Kessler
3 Diego Arbelo
4 Ignacio Dotti
5 Manuel Leindekar
6 Manuel Ardao 
7 Lucas Bianchi 
8 Manuel Diana 
9 Santiago Arata 
10 Felipe Etcheverry 
11 Nicolas Freitas 
12 Andres Vilaseca (c) 
13 Tomas Inciarte 
14 Gaston Mieres 
15 Rodrigo Silva 

Replacements:
16 Guillermo Pujadas
17 Matias Benitez
18 Ignacio Peculo
19 Juan Manuel Rodríguez 
20 Santiago Civetta
21 Agustin Ormaechea 
22 Felipe Berchesi
23 Juan Manuel Alonso

•    Lucas Bianchi and Manuel Diana join Manuel Ardao in the back row, with Bianchi making his first start at RWC 2023. •    Tomás Inciarte returns to the centres, partnering captain Andrés Vilaseca for the third time at RWC 2023.
•    Gastón Mieres replaces Bautista Basso on the right wing, Rodrigo Silva replaces Baltazar Amaya at full-back to make his first appearance at RWC 2023. 
•    Manuel Ardao has been the most dangerous player at the breakdown at RWC 2023, hitting a competition-high 32 defensive rucks, winning the most steals (6) and forcing the fourth-most penalties (2).   
•    Manuel Leindekar is the only Uruguayan to have played every minute at RWC 2023. 
•    Felipe Etcheverry has assisted five of Uruguay’s nine tries scored. He will start alongside Santiago Arata as one of only four half-back pairings to start every game at RWC 2023 so far.