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On Saturday there will be another first for Chile in the November Internationals. Having faced Hong Kong and Kenya last Friday and Tuesday Los Cóndores are to play their third match in eight days, playing Russia for the first time.
Russian Head Coach Alexander Pervukhin has rung the changes despite coming off two victories. The Bears defeated Kenya 31-10 and Hong Kong 16-13 in their previous fixtures at the Cup of Nations.
Changes to face Chile see Stanislav Selskiy replacing Sergei Chernyshev at hooker and Azamat Bitiev preferred to Vladimir Podrezov at tighthead prop. In the second-row Evgeny Elgin joins Bogdan Fedotko with Alexander Ilin dropping to the bench.
Enisei STM’s Dmitri Krotov will captain the Bears from No 8. He is to be joined by Anton Sychev and Andrei Temnov in the back-row. Temnov starts in place of Vladimir Suslov.
In the backs Russia have reverted to six of the seven who faced Hong Kong. Vasili Dorofeev returns to start at scrum-half while Kirill Golosnitskiy, Vladislav Sozonov, and Anton Ryabov also all return.
Chilean coaches Raúl Marín and Juan Martín González Saborido have made seven changed to their pack. The one survivor from the side that fell to Hong Kong is Javier Richard. There is also a start for Nikola Bursic who has been named to play no 8.
In the remainder of the pack the Italian based Vittorio Lastra starts at prop. Marco Díaz also starts with the pairing replacing Claudio Zamorano and José Tomás Munita. Ignacio Gajardo takes over from Tomás Dussaillant at hooker.
Bastián Burguener earns his first test start. He will partner Raimundo Piwonka in the second-row. In the back-row Manuel Dagnino comes in for Anton Petrowitsch, while Benjamín Soto, makes way for Bursic.
A double change in the halves sees Domingo Saavedra and Benjamín Pizarro starting together. Javier Lavanderos takes over from Francisco de la fuente at inside center while José Ignacio Larenas leads Los Cóndores outside him.
Franco Velarde retains his spot on the wing as does Tomás Ianiszewski at fullback. On the right wing Matías Balbontín gets an opportunity, replacing Mauricio Urrutia.
Many starters from the side that faced Hong Kong are on the bench to take on Russia. Notably included is the uncapped Sebastián Otero. The prop from Los Troncos will earn his first cap should he receive game time.
Chile face a staunch challenge of taking-on the 18th ranked team in the world. They will need to bring their top performance to Hong Kong.
RUSSIA
1 Valeri Morozov, 2 Stanislav Selskiy, 3 Azamat Bitiev, 4 Bogdan Fedotko, 5 Evgeny Elgin, 6 Andrei Temnov (capt.), 7 Anton Sychev, 8 Dmitri Krotov, 9 Vasili Dorofeev, 10 Ramil Gaisin, 11 Vladislav Sozonov, 12 Vladimir Rudenko, 13 Kirill Golosnitskiy, 14 German Davydov, 15 Anton Ryabov
Replacements: 16 Sergei Chernyshev, 17 Evgeni Mischechkin, 18 Magomed Davudov, 19 Alexander Ilin, 20 Dmitri Gritsenko, 21 Konstantin Uzunov, 22 Alexander Budychenko, 23 Evgeny Nepeivoda
CHILE
1 Vittorio Lastra, 2 Ignacio Guajardo, 3 Marco Díaz, 4 Bastián Burguener, 5 Raimundo Piwonka, 6 Javier Richard, 7 Manuel Dagnino, 8 Nikola Bursic, 9 Domingo Saavedra, 10 Benjamín Pizarro, 11 Franco Velarde, 12 Javier Lavanderos, 13 José Ignacio Larenas (capt.), 14 Matías Balbontín, 15 Tomás Ianiszewski
Replacements: 16 Tomás Dussaillant, 17 Sebastían Otero, 18 José Tomás Munita, 19 Mario Mayol, 20 Anton Petrowitsch, 21 Sergio Bascuñan, 22 Francisco de la Fuente, 23 Santiago Videla
Date: Saturday, November 18
Venue: HKFC Stadium, Hong Kong
Kickoff: 14:00 local (01:00 Eastern, 03:00 Chile)
Referee: Stephen Copeman (HKRFU)
Assistants: Maxime Burlet (FBRB) & Edward Fitzgerald (HKRFU)
Broadcasts: Facebook Stream
