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Round 8 of SLAR 2022 gets underway with a Brazil vs Colombia match-up. Os Cobras are in search of their opening win of the season while Los Cafeteros are chasing their third. Los Cafeteros Pro are on 11 competition points, 10 more than Os Cobras. In short, the Brazilians need to win the match with a bonus point and at least one more with a bonus to rise from the bottom.
Os Cobras have a line-up not disimiliar to that which could represent Brazil in a test match. Gabriel Paganini, Cléber Días, André Arruda, Douglas Rauth, Lucas Spago, and captain Daniel Sancery are all among Brazil’s elite. Center Simon Bienvenu and fullback Bautista Santamarina are not eligible for Brazil; they are from France and Argentina respectively.
For the match Bienvenu is back with Robert Tenorio moving to the wing. Santamarina’s start at fullback is a first. It comes with Spago named to start at fly half. Another alteration involves the skipper as Sancery will play on the left wing. The bench sees a first SLAR 2022 match for veteran Brazilian prop Lucas Abud.
Los Cafeteros Pro is Argentine-dominated. The team is unofficially an Argentine entrant. This is the case in terms of players and also in terms of where a lot of the funding comes from. Four of the starting line-up are Colombians. Carlos Ángulo Reyes starts at tight head, Diver Ceballos at flanker and Andrés Álvarez and Alain Altahona on the wings.
The Argentine contingent involves a return for rookie sensation Julián Hernández at fly half. He will have great runners outside of him as Manuel Alfaro, Leonardo Gea start in the centers. Franco Giudice will again lead the sdei from fullback.
The forwards see potential Puma Javier Corvolán again being one to watch at loose head. Eliseo Fourcade, and Federico Lavanini lock the scrum while Felipe Puertas is a second-year Cafeteros Pro player from Argentina. He will join Ceballos, and Juan Bautista Mernes in thr back-row.
The match is a do-or-die fixture for Os Cobras. It is the final realistic shot at a win this season. A Los Cafeteros Pro win will see the Colombians overtaking the Olímpia Lions. Such a result will place the team in the frame for the play-off’s.
TEAMS
COBRAS
1 Brendon Alves, 2 Leonardo Souza, 3 Henrique Ribeiro, 4 Gabriel Paganini, 5 Kauã de Oliveira, 6 Cléber Días, 7 Devon Muller, 8 André Arruda, 9 Douglas Rauth, 10 Lucas Spago, 11 Daniel Sancery (capt.), 12 Joel dos Santos, 13 Simon Bienvenu, 14 Robert Tenorio, 15 Bautista Santamarina
Replacements: 16 David Muller, 17 Lucas Abud, 18 Emanuel Molina, 19 Adrio Luiz, 20 Matheus Cláudio, 21 Rafael Spago, 22 Lucas Tranquez, 23 Daniel Lima
CAFETEROS PRO
1 Javier Corvolán, 2 Boris Wenger, 3 Carlos Ángulo Reyes, 4 Eliseo Fourcade, 5 Federico Lavanini, 6 Felipe Puertas, 7 Diver Ceballos, 8 Juan Bautista Mernes, 9 Eliseo Morales, 10 Julián Hernández, 11 Andrés Álvarez, 12 Manuel Alfaro, 13 Leonardo Gea, 14 Alain Altahona, 15 Franco Giudice (capt.)
Replacements: 16 Tomás Bartolini, 17 Diego Posada, 18 Lucas Fernández, 19 Joaquín Sánchez, 20 José Ignacio Galvez, 21, Marcos Amorisa, 22 Juan Agudelo, 23 Valentín Fernández
Date: Wednesday, May 04
Kickoff: 3:30pm (Montevideo, Brasília), 1:30pm (Bogotá)
Venue: Estadio de Charrúa (Montevideo, Uruguay)
Referee: Francisco González (Uruguay)
Assistant Referees: Juan Manuel Leon; Matías Esteban (Uruguay)
TMO: Frank Méndez (Chile)
Broadcast: ESPN (America Latina), ESPN (Brazil), Star +
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2022-03-26 – Cafeteros Pro 23, Cobras 17 (Héroes de Curupayty, Asunción, Paraguay)
2021-04-26 – Cobras 22, Cafeteros Pro 14 (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo)
2021-03-30 – Cobras 30, Cafeteros Pro 14, (Estadio Nacional, Santiago)
