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Saturday will mark the first ever professional rugby match between teams from Paraguay and Brazil in Paraguay. The Olímpia Lions will play on home soil against Os Cobras in a fourth round fixture in the 2022 Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR).
The Olímpia Lions enter the match as the red-hot favorites. The Paraguayan SLAR franchise has a 2-1 record thus far while Os Cobras are winless. The Olímpia Lions opened by upsetting Selknam 22-20 in Chile and also defeating Peñarol for the first time, claiming a 15-13 win last weekend in Asunción.
The Olímpia Lions’ attention now turns to Os Cobras. The 4th vs 6th placed fixture is a huge opportunity for the Paraguayan franchise. The Olímpia Lions are presently on 8 competition points, two less than all of Los Jaguares XV, Peñarol and Selknam. With Los Jaguares XV facing Peñarol on Saturday, a win for the Olímpia Lions will mean a rise in the SLAR 2022 standings.
The Paraguayan side have named an unchanged forwards pack for the match. The same 8 who took the battle to Peñarol will run out against Os Cobras. Of the Paraguayans second-rower Mariano Garcete is one to watch; he has been a stand-out for the Olímpia Lions.
There are two changes to the backline. They come at inside center and at fullback. Ramiro Amarilla will have a chance to impress. The Argentine replaces countryman and fellow SLAR rookie Estanislao Arrias. Julián Quetglas moves from wing to replace Diego Walter at fullback this opens a spot for uncapped Paraguayan Ignacio González on the right wing.
Os Cobras search for the winning formula has resulted in four changes from last week. The four alterations are split between the forwards and backs. Up front Henrique Ferreira replaces Argentine Mariano Filomeno at tight head while the best Cobras from SLAR 2021, André Arruda ia back at N8 in place of Matheus Cláudio. Arruda’s match-up against Mariano Romanini looms as a feature head-to-head in the contest.
The changes in the backline come at scrum half and inside center. The former sees Laurent Bourda-Couhet named ahead of Douglas Rauth while in the latter Gabriel Quirino takes over from Joel dos Santos. Quirino will partner Frenchman Simon Bienvenu in the mid-field and play outside Argentine Bautista Santamarina.
Rauth is a noteworthy replacement to call-upon from the bench. Two others are second-rower Cléber Días, and fullback Daniel Sancery. Os Cobras have a bench that will enable an 80 minute performance. Of note is that the Olímpia Lions finished very strongly in their wins against Selknam and Peñarol in round’s one and three.
TEAMS
OLÍMPIA LIONS
1 Daniel Cabral, 2 Mariano Muntaner, 3 Luis Enrique Quinteros, 4 Lorenzo Colidio, 5 Mariano Garcete, 6 Federico Simondi, 7 Ignacio Gandini (capt.), 8 Mariano Romanini, 9 Ignacio Inchauspe, 10 Sebastián Urbieta, 11 Matías Sauze, 12 Ramiro Amarilla, 13 Francisco Diez, 14 Ignacio González, 15 Julián Quetglas
Replacements: 16 Conrado Iglesias, 17 Ezequiel Reyes, 18 Rolando Portillo, 19 Agustín Toth, 20 Álvaro Biscay, 21 Facundo Villalba, 22 Juan González, 23 Nicolás Hogg
COBRAS
1 Alexandre Alves, 2 Endy Willian Pinheiro, 3 Henrique Ferreira, 4 Gabriel Paganini, 5 Gabriel Oliveira, 6 Devon Muller, 7 Arthur Bergo (capt.), 8 André Arruda, 9 Laurent Bourda-Couhet, 10 Bautista Santamarina, 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Gabriel Quirino, 13 Simon Bienvenu, 14 Robson de Moraes, 15 Lucas Tranquez
Replacements: 16 Leonardo de Souza, 17 Brendon Alves, 18 Mariano Filomeno, 19 Kauã Guimarães, 20 Cléber Días, 21 Douglas Rauth, 22 Victor Silva, 23 Daniel Sancery
Date: Saturday, April 02, 2022
Kick-Off: 6:30pm (Asunción); 7:30pm (Brasília)
Venue: Estadio 3 de Febrero, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay
Referee: Nehuen Jauri Rivero (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Tomás Bertazza (Argentina); Raimundo Fuenzailda (Chile)
TMO: Frank Méndez (Chile)
Historical Results:
2021-03-25 – Olímpia Lions 19, Cobras 15 (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, Uruguay)
2021-03-25 – Cobras 8, Olímpia Lions 44 (Estadio Elías Figueroa, Valparaiso, Chile)
