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Colombia are ready for their RWC 2023 qualifier. Los Tucanes will travel to Chile to face Los Cóndores on Saturday, July 03. The fixture is a one-off; it is a winner-takes-all opportunity. The winning team will qualify for the South American finals which will take place in Montevideo next month.
Colombia’s roster contains all but one of the country’s players from the 2021 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). The one missing name from Los Cafeteros Pro’s 19 Colombians is Juan David Herrera. The hooker will not play for Los Tucanes against Chile for family reasons. Center Geovanny Carvajal misses out for the same reason. Winger Brayan Guzmán misses out due to his studies.
Henao, Carvajal and Guzmán are all Colombian-based players. Carvajal and Guzmán missed the SLAR, though remain active in the High Performance program. Their non-availability is not welcome news for Los Tucanes.
The roster will also be missing other names. Those who play their rugby abroad will not feature for Colombia against Chile. Colombia Rugby notes that their non-availability is regretful.
Last month ARN projected Colombia’s line-up to face Chile. The team included Herrera and Carvajal. Additional foreign-based players were French-based second-rower Andrés Zafra and winger Brayan Campiño. Former MLR player Julio Giraldo was expected to miss out.
As noted, Colombia’s roster for Chile will contain 18 Cafeteros Pro players. They will be joined by the promising Simeón González Lopéz and Santiago Huertas in addition to the experienced trio of Juan Sebastián Giraldo, Neider García, and Santiago Mejía.
RWC 2023 QUALIFIERS – COLOMBIA ROSTER
FORWARDS
Yani Pérez (Cafeteros Pro), Jorge Álvarez (Cafeteros Pro), Brayhan Pérez (Cafeteros Pro), Simeón González Lopéz (La Guajira), Diego Posada (Cafeteros Pro), Jhon Carlos Álvarez (Cafeteros Pro), Danny Giraldo (Cafeteros Pro), Sebastián Zapata (Cafeteros Pro), Diver Ceballos (Cafeteros Pro), Santiago Huertas (Sultánes), Santiago Mejía (Gatos), Gerson Ortiz (Cafeteros Pro)
BACKS
Oscar Forero (Cafeteros Pro), Julián Navarro (Cafeteros Pro), Jhojan Ortiz (Cafeteros Pro), Cristian Rodallegas (Cafeteros Pro), Álvaro Gamarra (Cafeteros Pro), Alejandro Navarro (Cafeteros Pro), Neider García (Gatos), Juan Sebastián Giraldo (Marinilla), Jhon Arley Urrutia (Cafeteros Pro), Julián Velandia (Cafeteros Pro), Andrés Alvarés (Cafeteros Pro)
