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Selknam and the Olímpia Lions square-off on Sunday. They will do so in round two of the 2021 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). Selknam were 35-12 winners over Los Cafeteros Pro on Tuesday while the Olímpia Lions were beaten 40-11 by Peñarol.
Selknam have named twelve starting Chileans and three Argentines. It is all Los Cóndores in the forwards. Iñaki Gurruchaga, Augusto Bohme, and Matías Dittus will start in the front-row. They will have powerful support behind them in the form of Santiago Pedrero, and Javier Eissmann. The outstanding duo of Martín Sigren, and Ignacio Silva will be the starting flankers. Alfonso Escobar joins them in the back-row.
Patricio Boronio, Ignacio Albornoz, and Maximilano Filizzola are the starting Argentines. They will play at scrum-half, fly half and right wing respectively. Boronio and Albornoz also played for Selknam in the 2020 SLAR season. Filizzola signed from Los Pumas 7’s.
The centers are mobile rather than powerful. This sees Selknam fileding an attacking-oriented back division. José Ignacio Larenas was a try-scorer in game one from the bench. He starts inside Domingo Saavedra against the Olímpia Lions. Julio Blanc will play left wing, and Rodrigo Fernández starts at fullback. Fernández will be Selknam’s second play-making option.
The Olímpia Lions have named a strong line-up. It includes an entire Argentine forward-pack. Former Puma Javier Díaz, joins Argentina XV players Axel Zapata, and Lucas Favre in the front-row. Díaz vs Favre will be a key match-up in the contest. The Paraguayan side will also have two Argentine locks; Carlos Repetto, and Mauro Rebussone start together in the second-row.
The Paraguayan-eligibile Jerónimo Gómez Vara will play flanker. He joins Argentina XV flanker Lucas Santa Cruz, and Pumita Ignacio Gandin in the back-row.
The backs consist of two Paraguayans and five Argentines. Sebastián Urbieta will play inside center and Juan González starts on the left wing. González scored the first try of the season on Tuesday.
Ignacio Inchauspe replaces Joaquín Pellandini at scrum-half. Inchauspe will join Máximo Ledesma in the halves. Francisco Diez retains his spot at outside center as does Martín Bogado at fullback. and Leopoldo Herrera on the right wing.
The match itself is a first. Selknam and the Olímpia Lions are SLAR foundation teams; both featured in the 2020 season. The early suspension of the season meant that they did not have the opportunity of playing against one-another.
A number of factors provide Selknam with the favorites tag. The Chilean side consists predominently of players from Los Cóndores. Chile’s 2020 performances were of note; Chile improved greatly in the South American Championship. Selknam were also impressive in their first mathc and played well for the duration of the contest. The Olímpia Lions started well but could not keep up the performance throughout the contest. Home advantage also favors Selknam. ARN projects a Selknam victory by 20 points.
Kickoff is set for 4:30pm local time, 4:30pm Asunción, and 2:30pm Bogotá. Live broadcasts will be provided by ESPN in the competing countries
SELKNAM
1 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 2 Augusto Bohme, 3 Matías Dittus, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Martín Sigren, 7 Ignacio Silva (capt.), 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Patricio Boronio, 10 Ignacio Albornoz, 11 Julio Blanc, 12 José Larenas, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Maximilano Filizzola, 15 Rodrigo Fernández
Replacements: 16 Tomás Dussaillant, 17 Javier Carrasco, 18 Salvador Lues, 19 Clemente Saavedra, 20 Nicolás Garafulic, 21 Bautista Stavile, 22 Lukas Carvallo, 23 Matías Garafulic
OLÍMPIA LIONS
1 Javier Díaz, 2 Axel Zapata, 3 Lucas Favre, 4 Carlos Repetto, 5 Mauro Rebussone, 6 Jerónimo Gómez Vara, 7 Lucas Santa Cruz, 8 Ignacio Gandini, 9 Ignacio Inchauspe, 1o Máximo Ledesma, 11 Juan González, 12 Sebastián Urbieta, 13 Francisco Diez, 14 Leopoldo Herrera, 15 Martín Bogado
Replacements: 16 Mariano Muntaner, 17 Rodrigo Martínez, 18 Luis Enrique Quinteros, 19 Mariano Garcete, 20 Martín Gómez Vara, 21 Joaquín Pellandini, 22 Franco Bullentini, 23 Diego Argaña
Date: Sunday, March 21
Venue: Estadio Municipal de La Pintana, Santiago, Chile
Kickoff: 16:30 (Santiago)
Broadcast: ESPN Brasil, ESPN America Latina
Historical Results:
N/A
