Italy v Uruguay predictions: Can Los Teros continue good form?

Few have given either of these two sides a shot at getting out of Pool A with hosts France and New Zealand firm favourites to progress. However, Italy will be keen on upsetting one of the big two and after a week off, take on Uruguay who came close to shocking France in their opening fixture. Here are our Italy v Uruguay predictions.

Italy looked fairly fluent against Namibia in Round One but will face a sterner test from Los Teros who were many people’s surprise package from the early stages of the Rugby World Cup 2023.

Italy v Uruguay predictions

Josh Graham: Italy by 12 points. I think it’s a very big ask for Uruguay to follow that France display with the same vigour off just a six-day turnaround. Factor that in with the fact Italy have had a week off and I expect Kieran Crowley’s Azzurri to get the job done. Los Teros’ form against the hosts means this should not be a landslide so a 12-point margin feels right. Any punters/fantasy rugby players, I like Lorenzo Pani (who features in next month’s Rugby World Rising Stars section) to score from the wing.

Kick Off Time 4.45pm BST – 5.45pm Local –Wednesday 20th September

Venue Stade de Nice, Nice
Capacity: 35,169
Fun Fact: Before the tournament, this stadium had hosted just one international rugby Test match to date – a 32-3 win for France over Scotland in August 2019 in which Maxime Medard scored two tries.

Italy form 

Beat Namibia

Beat Japan

Beat Romania

Lost to Ireland

Lost to Scotland

Uruguay form

Lost to France

Beat Namibia

Beat Chile

Lost to Tonga

Beat Romania

ITALY V URUGUAY HEAD-TO-HEAD RESULTS

This is the first Rugby World Cup meeting between the sides but they did play in 2021 when Italy edged a close contest 17-10.

Italy v Uruguay team news

ITALY Ange Capuozzo; Lorenzo Pani, Juan Ignacio Brex, Paolo Garbisi, Montanna Ioane; Tommaso Allan, Alessandro Garbisi; Danilo Fischetti, Giacomo Nicotera, Marco Riccioni; Niccolo Cannone, Federico Ruzza; Sebastian Negri, Michele Lamaro (captain), Lorenzo Cannone

Replacements: Luca Bigi, Federico Zani, Pietro Ceccarelli, Dino Lamb, Manuel Zuliani, Giovanni Pettinelli, Alessandro Fusco, Paolo Odogwu

URUGUAY Baltazar Amaya; Gaston Mieres, Tomas Inciarte, Andres Vilaseca (captain), Nicolas Freitas; Felipe Etcheverry, Santiago Arata; Mateo Sanguinetti, German Kessler, Ignacio Peculo; Felipe Aliaga, Manuel Leindekar; Manuel Ardao, Santiago Civetta, Manuel Diana

Replacements: Guillermo Pujadas, Facundo Gattas, Diego Arbelo, Ignacio Dotti, Carlos Deus, Agustin Ormaechea, Felipe Berchesi, Bautista Basso

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