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There are to be three internationals in South America on Saturday though only one is capped. The match between Colombia and Paraguay in Medellín thereby carries with it added meaning.
For both teams the match is the one they would have targeted pre-tournament. A win will see a boost in the rankings as well as bragging rights ahead of the Americas Rugby Challenge.
Colombia are to again be led by José Manuel Diosa though he mas been moved from inside center to fullback. The captain switches places with Geovanny Carvajal while Neider García replaces Maicol Machado in the one starting change among the backs.
In the forwards Los Tucanes have gone for Yani Pérez over Mauricio Espinal at loose head. Santiago Mejía over Danny Giraldo in the second-row; and a start for Giraldo in place of David Rojo at flanker.
Paraguay are coached by former Jaguares Head Coach Raúl Pérez. He has opted for new props with Martín Sitjar and German Aranda making way for Santiago Cabrera and Joaquín Vera respectively. The remaining five starting forwards are unchanged.
In the backs Eymard Brizuela replaced Gastón Navas at scrum-half to form a new-look halves combination with Joaquín Auge. Additional changes see Sebastián Urbieta replacing Diego Argaña at inside center with the latter movie go the right wing in place of Santiago Alamo.
At fullback Renato Cardona drops out with Horacio Aguero selected to start. Los Yákares will again be captained by Gonzalo Berdejo from outside center.
Colombia are newcomers in Sudamérica Rugby competition but they have rapidly become a team of great promise. Their first match against Paraguay was in 2004 with Paraguay dominating 79-7 in São Paulo, Brazil. The following year it was even worse as Paraguay won 82-8 in Asunción.
After a three year pause the teams met again in 2008 with Paraguay again winning comfortably, doing so 60-7 in Asunción. In 2012 they met in Valencia, Venezuela with Paraguay this time completing a 54-17 victory.
The 2012 defeat marked Colombian progress as did that of 2013 with Paraguay winning 25-15. But it is the most three recent results which are telling. In 2016 Paraguay came-from-behind to win 39-27 in Asunción, and then held on in 2018 to win 28-26. Colombia’s time would arrive later in 2018 as they claimed a historic 44-29 win over Paraguay in Medellín to win the Americas Rugby Challenge.
The overall record of 7-1 in favor of Paraguay does not mean they go into Saturday’s match as favorites. To the contrary Los Tucanes do so. Colombia are expected to come away with a win by 15 points.
For both teams the match is the one they would have targeted pre-tournament. A win will see a boost in the rankings as well as bragging rights ahead of the Americas Rugby Challenge.
COLOMBIA
1 Yani Pérez, 2 Diego Posada, 3 Andrés Arango, 4 Santiago Mejía, 5 Jhon Carlos Álvarez, 6 Danny Giraldo, 7 Diver Ceballos, 9 Gerson Ortiz, 10 Andrés Álvarez, 11 Neider García, 12 Geovanny Carvajal, 13 Juan Dávila, 14 Arley Urrutia, 15 José Manuel Diosa
Replacements: 16 Jorge Álvarez, 17 Mauricio Espinal, 18 Brayhan Pérez, 19 Nicolás Cadavid, 20 Arturo Contreras, 21 Julián Navarro, 22 Juan Sebastián Giraldo, 23 Cristian Rodallegas
PARAGUAY
1 Santiago Cabrera, 2 Emilio Gorostiaga, 3 Joaquín Vera, 4 Mario Bravo, 5 Mariano Garcete, 6 Enrique Riera, 7 Marcos Riquelme, 8 Carlos Plate, 9 Eymard Brizuela, 10 Joaquín Auge, 11 Diego Argaña, 12 Sebastián Urbieta, 13 Gonzalo Berdejo, 14 Marcelo Matiauda, 15 Horacio Agüero
Replacements: 16 Daniel Cabral, 17 Camilo Blasco, 18 Enrique Quinteros, 19 Ariel Nuñez, 20 Miguel González, 21 Gastón Navas, 22 Sergio Alvarenga, 23 Santiago Alamo
Date: Saturday, May 18
Venue: Estadio Cincuentenario, Medellín
Kick-Off: 3pm (Colombia), 4pm (Paraguay)
Referee: Santiago Romero (Uruguay)
Assistant Referees: Frank Méndez (Chile), and local (Colombia)
