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The in-form Selknam take-on Los Cafeteros Pro on Sunday. The match is a round six encounter in the 2021 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). Selknam will be looking for a win to potentially move into second spot. Los Cafeteros Pro are chasing their first win of the campaign. The Colombians secured two bonus point losses from their opening five matches.
Los Cafeteros Pro are a genuine hyrid team. Great effort has gone in to the naming of every team thus far; the presence of Colombians has been central. Nine Colombians will start against Selknam on Sunday.
Four of the Colombians are in the forwards and five in the backs. Diego Posada joins Argentins Javier Corvalán and Agustín Acosta in the front-row. Danny Giraldo will start in the second-row; Diver Ceballos at flanker; and Gersón Ortíz at N8. All of the aforementioned players are regulars for Colombia.
In the backs the Colombians will be Jhojan Ortíz at fly half; Cristian Rodellegas at inside center; Alejandro Navarro and Jhon Arley Urrutia on the wings and Andrés Álvarez at fullback. They will have the opportunity to play against a reputable opponent in a professional rugby match. It will help boost Colombia’s test team ahead of the RWC 2023 qualifiers wherein Colombia will face Chile, Brazil, and Paraguay in June.
Proespective Puma Gonzalo García continues to captain Los Cafeteros Pro from scrum-half. His partnership with Ortíz is a first. It comes with Argentine Nicolás Roger sitting the match out.
Selknam go into the game running red-hot. The Chilean SLAR team produced a dominant display against Os Cobras. Selknam ran rampant, to which the Brazilians had no answer. Will this continue against Los Cafeteros Pro?
The team selected is similar; there is no shortage of leading Chilean test match players. One half of the ‘smash brothers’ Martín Sigren captains the side from flanker. He will do so without Ignacio Silva alongside him. Instead, the back-row will be Sigren, Alfonso Escobar and Nicolás Garafulic. All three are capped and are regulars for Los Cóndores.
The forwards, in general, could be looked upon as a trial for the RWC 2023 qualifiers. All eight men are Chileans. Javier Carrasco, Tomás Dussaillant, and Matías Dittus, start in the front-row. The trio have all performed well thus far in SLAR. Clemente Saavedra, and Santiago Pedrero will lock the scrum.
The back-line sees two Argentines and five starting Chileans. The Argentines will be Patricio Baronio, and Ignacio Albornoz at scrum-half and fly half respectively. The in-form Santiago Videla and Domingo Saavedra will again be the centers. Their performance against Os Cobras was among the best by any Chilean mid-field in quite some time.
Julio Blanc, Franco Velarde, and Lucca Avelli complete the starting formation as the back-three. It is a notable back-three given that it is one of rotation. This is an indication of the strength and confidence of Selknam heading into Sunday.
Selknam won the prior meeting between the sides. The round one victory saw the Chilean side running out as bonus point winners. Los Cafeteros Pro had their moments in the match. ARN projects a similar free-flowing rugby match and outcome on Sunday.
Kickoff is set for 6:00pm local time, 5:00pm Santiago and 4pm Bogotá. Live broadcasts will be provided by ESPN in the competing countries.
CAFETEROS PRO
1 Javier Corvalán, 2 Agustín Acosta, 3 Diego Posada, 4 Lautaro Simes, 5 Danny Giraldo, 6 Diver Ceballos, 7 Felipe Puertas, 8 Gersón Ortíz, 9 Gonzalo García (capt.), 10 Jhojan Ortíz, 11 Alejandro Navarro, 12 Cristian Rodallegas, 13 Tomás García, 14 Jhon Arley Urrutia, 15 Andrés Álvarez
Replacements: 16 Jorge Álvarez, 17 Yani Pérez, 18 Brayhan Pérez, 19 Jhon Álvarez, 20 Sebastián Zapata, 21 Julián Navarro, 22 Álvaro Gamarra, 23 Juan David Herrera
SELKNAM
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Tomás Dussaillant, 3 Matías Dittus, 4 Clemente Saavedra, 5 Santiago Pedrero, 6 Martín Sigren (capt.), 7 Alfonso Escobar, 8 Nicolás Garafulic, 9 Patricio Baronio, 10 Ignacio Albornoz, 11 Julio Blanc, 12 Santiago Videla, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Franco Velarde, 15 Lucca Avelli
Replacements: 16 Raimundo Martínez, 17 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 18 Esteban Inostroza, 19 Tomás Orchid, 20 Bautista Stavile, 21 Lukas Carvallo, 22 José Larenas, 21 Matías Garafulic
Date: Sunday, April 11
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Kickoff: 6:00pm (Montevideo), 5:00pm (Santiago), 4:00pm (Bogotá)
Referee: Esteban Filipanics (Argentina)
Broadcast: ESPN America Latina, ESPN Brasil
Historical Results:
2021-03-16 – Selknam 35, Cafeteros Pro 12 (Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile)
