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Sunday will be historic for professional rugby. It will involve a match featuring two teams from unions categorized as neither Tier 1 or Tier 2 will meet. The match between the Olímpia Lions and Los Cafeteros Pro will be a first meeting between the teams.
Both sides have named strong line-ups. The Olímpia Lions enter with the Argentina XV front-row of Rodrigo Martínez, Axel Zapata, and Lucas Favre. Additional Argentine players complete all starting forwards positions with the exception of N8. Paraguayan Marcos Riquelme will play at the back of the scrum.
The Olímpia Lions will be looking to more of the same from stand-out players. Lucas Santa Cruz is a case in point at flanker as is Joaquín Pellandini at scrum-half. Both players have put up their hand for international duty for Argentina.
Pellandini starts inside Máximo Ledesma in the halves. Ledesma will have a second play-maker outside him with Paraguayan Sebastián Urbieta. Winger Renato Cardona is the third Paraguayan starting for Olímpia. Notwithstanding, flanker Jerónimo Gómez Vara is Paraguayan eligible.
Los Cafeteros will take to the field with an 9-6 split. That is to say there will be 9 Colombians and 6 Argentines in the starting line-up. Having over half of the team as Colombians is no minor accomplishment. It bodes well for the RWC 2023 qualifiers.
The starting Colombians are front-rowers Juan David Herrera, Jorge Álvarez, and Brayan Pérez; second-rower Danny Giraldo, back-rowers Diver Ceballos, and Gerson Ortíz, wingers Julían Velandia, and Jhon Arley Uttutia; and center Cristian Rodallegas.
The match will be Velandia’s second appearance for Los Cafeteros Pro and his first start. The match will also mark the SLAR debut for Giraldo. He was on the Peñarol roster for the 2020 competition and overcame injury to be included in the roster. In fact, he traveled to Chile before receiving from his injury.
Gonzalo García captains the side from scrum-half. His individual battle with Pellandini is arguably a trial for international honors. Both players have been stand-outs thus far in SLAR. Another Argentine to have impressed is Nicolás Roger. He has been well organized at fly half.
Sunday’s match will mark the first meeting between the two teams. The rugby played thus far indicates that the Olímpia Lions are favorites to win. The Paraguayan side defeated Os Cobras in round three and gave Los Jaguares XV are difficult opening 35 minutes. Los Cafeteros Pro remain winless, though the team has performed well for periods of all matches thus far. ARN projects an Olímpia Lions win by 14 points.
Kickoff is set for 11:20pm local time, 12:20 Asunción, and 10:20 Bogotá. Live broadcasts will be provided by ESPN in the competing countries.
OLÍMPIA LIONS
1 Rodrigo Martínez, 2 Axel Zapata (capt.), 3 Lucas Favre, 4 Carlos Repetto, 5 Mauro Rebussone, 6 Jerónimo Gómez Vara, 7 Lucas Santa Cruz, 8 Marcos Riquelme, 9 Joaquín Pellandini, 10 Máximo Ledesma, 11 Renato Cardona, 12 Sebastián Urbieta, 13 Francisco Diez, 14 Leopoldo Herrera, 15 Martín Bogado
Replacements: 16 Mariano Mutaner, 17 Daniel Cabral, 18 Martín Sitjar, 19 Mariano Garcete, 20 Matías Gómez Vara, 21 Rodrigo Gómez Vara, 22 Franco Bulletini, 23 Diego Argaña
CAFETEROS PRO
1 Juan David Herrera, 2 Jorge Álvarez, 3 Brayhan Pérez, 4 Lautaro Simes, 5 Danny Giraldo, 6 Diver Ceballos, 7 Felipe Puertas, 8 Gerson Ortíz, 9 Gonzalo García (capt.), 10 Nicolás Roger, 11 Julián Velandia, 12 Cristian Rodallegas, 13 Tomás García, 14 Jhon Arley Urrutia, 15 Facundo Ferrario
Replacements: 16 Agustin Acosta, 17 Javier Corvalán, 18 Diego Posada, 19 Jhon Carlos Álvarez, 20 Sebastián Zapata, 21 Oscár Forero, 22 Andrés Álvarez, 23 Johan Ortíz
Date: Sunday, April 04
Kickoff: 11:20 (Santiago), 12:20 Asunción, 10:20 (Bogotá)
Venue: Estadio El Nacional, Santiago, Chile
Referee: Cauã Ricardo (Brazil)
Broadcast: ESPN Brasil, ESPN America Latina
Historical Results:
N/A
