SLAR Preview – Selknam vs Peñarol

Selknam host Peñarol in a mouth-watering clash on Tuesday. The Chilean and Uruguayan teams meet in the fourth round of the 2021 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). Both teams have impressed in the early stages of the SLAR competition.

Selknam have rotated heavily for Peñarol, making nine changes. The team that faced Los Jaguares XV last week was largely a make-shift side to rest regular starters. The changes come across all positions. Up fron Matías Dittus is retained at tight head. He will be partnered by Javier Carrasco and Augusto Bohme in the front-row. Clemente Saavedra joins Javier Eissmann to replace Maximilano Silva in the second-row.

Ignacio Silva will again start and remains at flanker. He is to form the loose-forwards trio together with the returning duo of flanker Martín Sigren and Santiago Portillo. Earlier in the campaign Portillo started for Selknam at lock.

Portillo is one of three Argentine players in the starting lineup. The two others are scrum-half Patricio Boronio and left winger Maximilano Filizzola. Boronio replaces Lukas Carvallo while Filizzola moves from fullback to wing in place of Julio Blanc. This sees Rodrigo Fernández back at fullback.

As noted, the undefeated Peñarol have underlined this match as a priority. The team rotated heavily last week; thus, enabling a powerful line-up to take-on Selknam. The team features six changes from the side that defeated Los Cafeteros Pro. They come in the form of three forwards and three backs.

Juan Echeverría, Facundo Gattas and Santiago Civetta return to start in the forwards. Echeverría and Gattas join Diego Arbelo in the front-row. Civetta will partner fellow Tero Manuel Ardao as the starting flankers. They join Argentine Conrado Roura to form the back-row trio.

The three changes in the backs come at scrum-half, inside center and fullback. Manuel Nogúes, and Andrés Vilaseca both return while José Iruleguy starts at fullback. The changes see Nicolás Freitas and Rodrigo Silva moving positions to be Peñarol’s starting wingers.

The overall make-up of Peñarol’s lineup is twelve Uruguayans and three Argentines. The bench sees Argentine prop Facundo Pomponio joining six Uruguayans. Marcos Chamyan will make his SLAR debut should he receive game time.

Peñarol played host to Selknam in the inaugural SLAR match. The Uruguayan’s fell to a two-point loss against the Chileans. Ever since that night in Montevideo, Peñarol’s players, staff and supporters have been seeking a second opportunity. Despite what happene din 2020 and where the match is being played Peñarol enter as favorites. ARN projects a tight-contest with Peñarol favored to win by 3 points.

Kickoff is set for 4:30pm local time, 4:30pm Montevideo, and 4:30pm Bogotá. Live broadcasts will be provided by ESPN in the competing countries.

SELKNAM
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Augusto Bohme, 3 Matías Dittus, 4 Clemente Saavedra, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Martín Sigren, 7 Ignacio Silva (capt.), 8 Santiago Portillo, 9 Patricio Boronio, 10 Santiago Videla, 11 Maximilano Filizzola, 12 Franco Velarde, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Matías Garafulic, 15 Rodrigo Fernández

Replacements: 16 Raimundo Martínez, 17 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 18 Salvador Lues, 19 Santiago Pedrero, 20 Nicolás Garafulic, 21 Lukas Carvallo, 22 Ignacio Albornoz, 23 Alfonso Escobar

PEÑAROL
1 Juan Echeverría, 2 Facundo Gattas, 3 Diego Arbelo, 4 Felipe Aliaga, 5 Nahuel Milan, 6 Manuel Ardao, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Conrado Roura, 9 Manuel Nogúes, 10 Martín Roger, 11 Nicolás Freitas, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Tomás Inciarte, 14 Rodrigo Silva, 15 José Iruleguy

Replacements: 16 Ezequiel Ramos, 17 Facundo Pomponio, 18 Matías Benítez, 19 Eric do Santos, 20 Carlos Deus, 21 Marcos Chamyan, 22 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 23 Mateo Viñals

Date: Tuesday, March 30
Venue: Estadio Nacional, Santiago Chile
Kickoff: 16:30 (Santiago), 16:30 (Montevideo), 14:30 (Bogotá)
Broadcast: ESPN Brasil, ESPN America Latina

Historical Results:
2020-03-04 – Peñarol 13, Selknam 15 (Estadio Charrúa)