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History will be made on Saturday as senior men’s international competition begins between Colombia and Argentina. For the first time ever there will be a match between Los Tucanes as the Argentina XV, the national ‘next of XV’ of Argentina.
Colombia go into the match with a strong Tucanes line-up. The notable absentee is that of Andrés Zafra who plays for Agen in the elite French competition, the Top 14.
Based on the side that defeated Paraguay in 2018 ten will start against the Argentina XV in Medellín. In the forwards front-rowers Mauricio Espinal, and Diego Posada will play at loose head prop, and hooker; Jhon Carlos Álvarez starts in the second-row; and Gerson Ortiz, Diver Ceballos start as the flankers.
In the backs captain José Manuel Diosa will lead the side from inside center. He will play outside Andrés Álvarez who was the starting fullback against Paraguay. Elsewhere Julián Navarro, Juan Dávila, and Neider García retain their respective places at scrum-half, outside center, and right wing.
The Argentina XV have named a formidable line-up, one without question that is stronger than any line-up which Colombia have faced in the past. Leading the way in terms of the names is Manuel Montero, a player capped 27 times by Los Pumas for a return of 16 tries.
Captaining the side is flanker Francisco Gorrissen, a stand-out player for the team. He is joined in the loose forwards by Santiago Montagner, another notable player and one back following 12 months recovery from a serious injury.
Outwide the Argentina XV is packed with dangerous players. Montero will be joined by Julián Domínguez, giving the team two outstanding finishers outside. Additional attacking strength will come in the centers in the form of Lucas Mensa, and Matías Osadczuk.
Saturday’s match will be truly ground-breaking. It will mark the inaugural occasion in which a fixture of this kind has been played between representative teams from Colombia, and Argentina.
There is no question that Colombia has made massive progress in recent years. This can be seen by their win last year over Paraguay which, combined with wins over Guyana, and Mexico, saw Los Tucanes crowned champions of the Americas Rugby Challenge.
In 2018 the Argentina XV were on course to win the Sudamérica 6 Naciones A only to implode against Brazil and let a 30 point lead turn into defeat. That result was a wake-up-call and in 2019 the team has been far more consistent. All signs point to an Argentina XV victory over Colombia by 60 points.
The match will be streamed live by Win Sports Online.
COLOMBIA
1 Mauricio Espinal, 2 Diego Posada, 3 Andrés Arango, 4 Danny Giraldo, 5 Jhon Carlos Álvarez, 6 Diver Ceballos, 7 David Rojo, 8 Gerson Ortiz, 9 Julián Navarro, 10 Andrés Álvarez, 11 Maicol Machado, 12 José Manuel Diosa (Capt.), 13 Juan Dávila, 14 Arley Urrutia, 15 Geovanny Carvajal
Replacements: 16 Jorge Álvarez, 17 Yani Pérez, 18 Brayhan Pérez, 19 Santiago Mejía, 20 Arturo Conteras, 21 Alejandro Vanegas, 22 Cristian Rodallegas, 23 Juan Sebastián Giraldo
ARGENTINA XV
1 Juan Manuel Pittinari, 2 José Luis González, 3 Martín Fernández Segurotti, 4 Jerónimo Ureta, 5 Ignacio Calas, 6 Francisco Gorrissen (capt.), 7 Benito Ortíz de Rozas, 8 Santiago Montagner, 9 Gregório del Prete, 10 Teo Castiglioni, 11 Manuel Montero, 12 Lucas Mensa, 13 Matías Osadczuk, 14 Julián Domínguez, 15 Agustín Segura
Replacements: 16 Diego Fortuny, 17 Javier Corvalán, 18 Jeremías Tarter, 19 Carlos Repetto, 20 Santiago Portillo, 21 Manuel Nogués, 22 Martín Roger, 23 Facundo Cordero
Date: Saturday, May 11
Kick-Off: 3pm (Colombia), 5pm (Argentina)
Venue: Estadio Bicentenario, Medellín
Referee: Gonzalo Ventoso (Uruguay)
