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The Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) continues on Friday. In round seven of the season the match of the round looms as the Olímpia Lions vs Selknam. Both teams have had their highs and lows this season; albeit, their highs outweigh their lows. They are focused now on adding to their points as the race to the Semi Finals heats up.
The Olímpia Lions’ team selection will have silenced critics that there are not enough Paraguayans. The line-up has a broad spread of Paraguayans. Martín Sitjar and Marcos Riquelme start in the forwards while Renato Cardona, Sebastián Urbieta, and Diego Argaña do so in the backs. In addition, the starting flankers, Jerónimo Gómez Vara and Matías Gómez Vara are eligible to play for Paraguay and five more Paraguayans or Paraguayan-eligible names are among the replacements.
The selection of Urbieta and Argaña in the mid-field marks the first time wherein two Paraguayans will be the starting centers in a professional rugby match. Also of note is the selection of Matías Gómez Vara ahead of Lucas Santa Cruz at flanker. Santa Cruz has been among the leading players of SLAR thus far.
Selknam have eleven Chileans and four Argentines in their starting line-up. Ignacio Silva captains the side from flanker. He will be joined by Chilean test players in every forwards position aside from one half of the second-row. Argentina XV player, Santiago Portillo returns to lock the scvrum with Clemente Saavedra.
The backline is familiar. Once again the halves will be Patricio Baronio and Ignacio Albornoz and the centers will be Santiago Videla, and Domingo Saavedra. Rotation does come in to play in the back-three. Selknam will be looking to maximize the finishing abilities of Franco Velarde, Matías Garafulic, and Maximilano Filizzola.
The forwards of both teams have been the cornerstone of their performances. For instance, the best performance of the Olímpia Lions came against Os Cobras as did the best Selknam performance. There is certain to be an endless battle at the breakdown; forwards from both teams will be putting their bodies on the line to retain possession and to disrupt opposition ball.
The teams have met once previously. It was a second round match in the current SLAR season. Selknam were 29-16 winners on home soil. The win was secured with a final minute try. As was the case in their prior fixture, Friday’s round seven match between Olímpia and Selknam looms as a tight contest. As noted, the breakdown could be decisive. ARN projects a Selknam win by 15 points.
Kickoff is set for 6:00pm local time, Asunción, Buenos Aires and Brasília; 5:00pm Santiago; and 4pm Bogotá. Live broadcasts will be provided by ESPN in the competing countries.
OLÍMPIA LIONS
1 Martín Sitjar, 2 Mariano Muntaner, 3 Rodrigo Martínez, 4 Carlos Repetto, 5 Mariano Garcete, 6 Jerónimo Gómez Vara, 7 Matías Gómez Vara, 8 Marcos Riquelme, 9 Ignacio Inchauspe, 10 Máximo Ledesma, 11 Renato Cardona, 12 Sebastian Urbieta, 13 Diego Argaña, 14 Leopoldo Herrera, 15 Martín Bogado
16 Axel Zapata, 17 Daniel Cabral, 18 Luis Enrique Quinteros, 19 Carlos Plate, 2o Lucas Santa Cruz, 21 Joaquín Pellandini, 22 Rodrigo Gómez Vara, 23 Marcelo Matiuada
SELKNAM
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Augusto Bohme, 3 Matías Dittus, 4 Santiago Portillo, 5 Clemente Saavedra, 6 Alfonso Escobar, 8 Ignacio Silva (capt.), 9 Patricio Baronio, 10 Ignacio Albornoz, 11 Franco Velarde, 12 Santiago Videla, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Matías Garafulic, 15 Maximilano Filizzola
16 Raimundo Martínez, 17 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 18 Salvador Lues, 19 Tomás Orchard, 20 Bautista Stavile, 21 Lukas Carvallo, 22 José Larenas, 23 Lucca Avelli
Date: Friday, April 16
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Kickoff: 6:00pm (Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Brasília), 5:00pm (Santiago), 4:00pm (Bogotá)
Referee: Tomás Bertazza (Argentina)
Broadcast: ESPN America Latina, ESPN Brasil
Historical Results:
2021-03-16 – Selknam 29, Olímpia Lions 16 (Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile)
