By Nick Mulvenney
LYON, France (Reuters) -Uruguay captain Andres Vilaseca said facing New Zealand in the final match of their World Cup campaign was the perfect way to round out the tournament and that Los Teros would fight for every minute of Thursday's clash.
Uruguay troubled France in their opening 27-12 loss to the tournament hosts, led Italy 17-7 at halftime before going down 38-17, and tasted victory in a 36-26 win over Namibia in Lyon last week.
Centre Vilaseca said Uruguay had a plan to take the game to New Zealand, who need a bonus-point win on Thursday to be guaranteed a quarter-final spot, but the most important element of it was their attitude to the contest.
"This team is prepared to fight the All Blacks. When we can, where we can. It is our last bullet, before our World Cup is over," he told reporters on Tuesday.
"I'll be happy if Uruguay fights everything and comes out empty. That's the goal."
Vilaseca said it was a dream to play New Zealand for the first time in a test and that Los Teros had something special planned for when they faced the haka before the game.
"I love that they put out the best team possible," he added. "For us, it is a unique opportunity and I am happy for the respect they have shown us."
Coach Esteban Meneses made seven changes to his starting lineup for Thursday's game at OL Stadium, largely reverting to the side that impressed against France and Italy.
Meneses dropped two of his try scorers from the Namibia win. Baltazar Amaya scored two tries but made way for veteran Rodrigo Silva at fullback, while Gaston Mieres returned on the right wing in place of Bautista Basso.
Meneses also restored Tomas Inciarte to the centres alongside Vilaseca and made two changes to his back row, Manuel Diana returning at number eight and Lucas Bianchi making his first start of the tournament at openside flanker.
"Everyone who has played has done so in a great way and it was really difficult to remove them to give other players a chance," Meneses said.
"But it is part of the competition that has been generated in this squad, and that is what has made Uruguay competitive in these three World Cup games."
Uruguay team:
15-Rodrigo Silva, 14-Gaston Mieres, 13-Tomas Inciarte, 12-Andres Vilaseca (captain), 11-Nicolas Freitas, 10-Felipe Etcheverry, 9-Santiago Arata, 8-Manuel Diana, 7-Lucas Bianchi, 6-Manuel Ardao, 5-Manuel Leindekar, 4-Ignacio Dotti, 3-Diego Arbelo, 2-German Kessler, 1-Mateo Sanguinetti.
Replacements: 16-Guillermo Pujadas, 17-Matias Benitez, 18-Ignacio Peculo, 19-Juan Manuel Rodriguez, 20-Santiago Civetta, 21-Agustin Ormaechea, 22-Felipe Berchesi, 23-Juan Manuel Alonso
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Ken Ferris)
