Fiji – Uruguay

Fiji and Uruguay will square off on early Wednesday morning (European time) in Pool D of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Fiji led Australia 14-12 at half time in their opening RWC 2019 match on Saturday, before succumbing to an honorable 21-39 loss against the Wallabies. The relatively tight result was not necessarily a surprise, as Fiji has been and continues to be one of the best 2-3 teams in the World aside from the Tier 1 sides. The Fijians were solid as usual in the last 12 month, with results which included a win over France late last year, or a second place finish behind Japan in this year`s Pacific Nations Cup. Their main test in the build up to the World Cup was a 10 point win over Tonga.

This will be Uruguay’s first match in the 2019 World Cup. Los Teros have seen some slight progress over the last years. Although they suffered some heavy losses in recent tests (including 7-68 against Fiji last Autumn), the Uruguayans did manage to get some good results over the past 12 months, including wins over the likes of Romania and USA (although both teams were missing some key players), Canada or Russia. Uruguay finished second this year in the Americas Rugby Championship behind Argentina XV, but ahead of Canada and USA.

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Team news & lineups:

Fiji will make no less than 12 changes to the side which lost against Australia, two of them due to injury. Uruguay will throw their best available starting XV at the Fijians.

Fiji: 15 Alivereti Veitokani, 14 Filipo Nakosi, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Jale Vatubua, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Josh Matavesi, 9 Henry Seniloli, 8 Leone Nakarawa, 7 Mosese Voka, 6 Dominiko Waqaniburotu, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 4 Tevita Ratuva, 3 Manasa Saulo, 2 Mesulame Dolokoto, 1 Eroni Mawi

Uruguay: 15 Gaston Mieres, 14 Nicolas Freitas, 13 Juan Manuel Cat, 12 Andres Vilaseca, 11 Rodrigo Silva, 10 Felipe Berchesi, 9 Santiago Arata, 8 Manuel Diana, 7 Santiago Civetta, 6 Juan Gaminara, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 3 Diego Arbelo Garcia, 2 German Kessler, 1 Mateo Sanguinetti

Uruguay will hope to capitalize on the fact that Fiji will field a weakened lineup, but recent Los Teros results against the Flying Fijians are not encouraging. Uruguay lost 7-68 to Fiji in November last year, and also lost 15-47 in the previous World Cup back in 2015.

Uruguay really does not match up well against Fiji, they would rather play a slower, more pragmatic side, as opposed to a rocket propelled all out attacking outfit like the Flying Fijians.

Even with a second string lineup, Fiji is still vastly superior to this Uruguay side which continues to feature many non professional players, and they should win this big.

Making 12 changes might actually prove beneficial for Fiji, as they avoid the potential fatigue after playing Australia on Saturday, and the new boys will also be eager to impress and prove their worth. Also, their strong bench could come in and demolish the South Americans in the last 20 minutes or so.

Fiji’s world class speed, pace and versatility will be a nightmare for Uruguay’s defense, which is rather weak even for Uruguay’s level, so look for a lot of line breaks and uncontested tries in this game. Fiji’s attacking mentality and the motivation of the second string guys who will start should get them at least 6-7 tries here, and that should be enough to cover the spread. It depends on how many points Fiji will concede, but their defensive organization looked good against Australia until the last 10-20 minutes, so it shouldn`t be too many.

My tip will be Fiji to win by more than 30,5 points. Prediction: Fiji – Uruguay 50 – 10.

Pick: Fiji -30,5
Odds: 2.02 @ 18Bet
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 8.16
Event date: 25 September