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Los Jaguares XV and Selknam clash on Wednesday. Their match is the second out of three for the day in the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). The Argentine side go in to the match unbeaten; the Chileans have lost three of their first seven fixtures. Selknam have played well overall, though fell to a shock defeat last Friday against the Olímpia Lions.
Teams taking on Los Jaguares XV have rotated to keep fresh legs for more winnable matches; Selknam has continued the trend. The starting forwards see Tomás Orchard out of position in the second-row and regular captain, Ignacio Silva, will feature as a replacement. The second half of the ‘smash brothers,’ Martín Sigren will lead the side.
The backline is closer to the genuine article; yet, there are also a number of names who have been replacements rather than first choice for Selknam. José Larenas and Lucca Avelli start at inside center and on the left wing. There are also places for three Argentines in the backs and two in the forwards. This is the most all season.
The match will see history made. The Albornoz brothers will start on opposite teams for the first time in a professional rugby match. Ignacio Albornoz will play opposite Tomás Albornoz. Los Hermanos were also both professionals in 2020. Ignacio Albornoz is into his second season of SLAR for Selknam while Tomás Albornoz played Super Rugby in 2020 for Los Jaguares.
Tomás Albornoz starts the match ahead of Martín Elías. It will see his starting outside Felipe Ezcurra in the halves. In all there are eight changes from the side that defeated Los Cafeteros Pro by a record margin on Friday. One back who retains his spot is Sebastián Cancelliere. He scored four tries against the Colombians.
The forwards also see heavy rotation. Of note are names who have been on Mario Ledesma’s list in the recent past. They include Rodrigo Fernández Criado who moves from flanker to second-row; flanker Juan Martín González; N8 Joaquín Oviedo; and capped Pumas tight head prop Juan Pablo Zeiss.
Los Jaguares XV are heavy favorites to win. The Argentine side are yet to be genuinely challenged. ARN projects another bons point win for the Argentines. They are expected to score more than 50 points and concede fewer than 15.
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.
SELKNAM
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Augusto Bohme, 3 Salvador Lues, 4 Santiago Portillo, 5 Tomás Orchard, 6 Martín Sigren (capt.), 7 Bautista Stavile, 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Patricio Baronio, 10 Ignacio Albornoz, 11 Lucca Avelli, 12 José Larenas, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Matías Garafulic, 15 Maximilano Filizzola
Replacements: 16 Raimundo Martínez, 17 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 18 Esteban Inostroza, 19 Santiago Pedrero, 20 Ignacio Silva, 21 Lukas Carvallo, 22 Santiago Videla, 23 Julio Blanc
JAGUARES XV
1 Francisco Minervino, 2 Martín Vaca, 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 4 Federico Gutiérrez Marquez, 5 Rodrigo Fernández Criado, 6 Lautaro Bavaro, 7 Juan Martín González, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 9 Felipe Ezcurra (capt.), 10 Tomás Albornoz, 11 Tomás Cubilla, 12 Juan Pablo Castro, 13 Agustín Segura, 14 Sebastián Cancelliere, 15 Juan Bautista Daireaux
Replacements: 16. Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Joel Sclavi, 18 Luciano Torres, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Tomás Bernasconi, 21 Rafael Iriarte, 22 Martín Elías, 23 Teo Castiglioni
Date: Wednesday, April 21
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Kickoff: 6:00pm (Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Brasília), 5:00pm (Santiago), 4:00pm (Bogotá)
Referee: Nehuen Jauri Rivero (Argentina)
Broadcast: ESPN America Latina, ESPN Brasil
Historical Results:
2021-03-25 – Selknam 65 , Jaguares XV 8 (Estadio Elías Figueroa, Valparaiso, Chile)
