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Claudio Zamorano will captain Chile against Brazil in the opening match of the 2017 Americas Rugby Championship on Friday. The 28-year-old loosehead prop will lead his country for the first time having won 15 caps since his debut as a replacement against Paraguay in 2010. A converted loose forward, Zamorano has developed into a capable scrummager but is best known for his running abilities in the loose which saw him break the line on multiple occasions in last year’s tournament and most recently against South Korea in November.
The young side features one debutant in Viña centre Franco Velarde and just one player older than Zamorano, flyhalf Francisco González Moller, also 28, some nine months older than his captain. Gonzalez Moller is the only change to the probable side unveiled on Tuesday, with Francisco Cruz instead named among the reserves. Also on the bench are three uncapped players in props Vittorio Lastra and Gonzalo Martínez, and utility forward Nicanor Machuca, a native of Easter Island who provides cover at lock and loose forward.
Martínez, who plays for Curupaytí in Argentina, is the only player presently based outside of Chile in the side. San Diego Breakers utility forward Nikola Bursic starts in the second row, with former Gernika (Spain) loose forward Anton Petrowitsch named on the flank.
Los Cóndores defeated Brazil by 25-22 in the same fixture last year. Friday’s match takes place at the Estádio do Pacaembu in São Paulo with kickoff set for 8:15 pm local time, 5:15 pm Eastern. The match will be broadcast live by ESPN Brazil.
CHILE
1 Claudio Zamorano (capt.), 2 Tomás Dussaillant, 3 José Tomás Munita, 4 Mario Mayol, 5 Nikola Bursic, 6 Cristóbal Niedmann, 7 Anton Petrowitsch, 8 Manuel Dagnino, 9 Beltrán Vergara, 10 Francisco González Moller, 11 Pedro Verschae, 12 Matías Nordenflycht, 13 Franco Velarde, 14 Martín Verschae, 15 Rodrigo Fernández
RESERVES: 16 Rodrigo Moya, 17 Vittorio Lastra, 18 Gonzalo Martínez, 19 Nicanor Machuca, 20 Benjamín Soto, 21 Jan Hasenlechner, 22 Franciso Cruz, 23 Tomás Ianiszewski
