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A pivotal SLAR 2022 fixture sees Los Cafeteros Pro up against Selknam on Tuesday. Both teams need wins for differeing reasons. Los Cafeteros Pro go in to the match in 4th spot. If they win then they will remain on track for the play-off’s. A loss combined with a hypothetical Olímpia Lions win against Os Cobras would see the Colombians falling. Selknam need a win to retain second spot.
Los Cafeteros Pro will be led by Argentine Marcos Amorisa from scrum-half. He has been a break-through talent this season. The same is true of his countryman outside him; Julián Hernández has called the shots well for the Colombian SLAR entrant.
Amorisa and Hernández will be joined by two Argentines and three Colombians in the remaining starting positions in the backline. The Colombian trio of Juan Agudelo, Alain Altahona and Andrés Álvarez start at inside center, the right wing and fullback respectively. Manuel de Marco, and Valentín Fernández also start.
The forwards have been combative in past matches. This has helped the team compete well for the ball and to give the halves more than their share of opportunities. Diver Ceballos has been the heart-and-soul of this. The Colombian starts the match at flanker.
Up front the team will consist of Diego Posada, Tomás Bartolini, and Brián González in the front-row. This is a different formation to that from prior rounds. The same is true in the second-row where Joaquín Sánchez has a start. He will lock the scrum alongside Eliseo Fourcade.
Selknam have a new captain too. Domingo Saavedra will lead the Chileans from the mid-field. He will have his regular partner in Matías Garafulic parntering him in the centers. Regularity also comes with Rodrigo Fernández at fly half.
The Selknam backs, in general terms, are different to normal though. Selknam welcome back Santiago Videla for the first time all year. The regular goal-kicker for Chile will start at fullback. His form in the position in 2021 together with Fernández at fly half was a hallmark of Los Cóndores.
New blood will play out wide. Clemente Armstrong and Gaspar Moltedo start to give Selknam a new look. Similarly, Santiago Edwards and Ernesto Tchimino both start in the back-row. This is further encouragement for Chile’s production line during the RWC 2019-2023 cycle.
Martín Sigren is a regular among the starting forwards. Argentine Franco Molina joins him in the pack as does Santiago Pedrero, Vittorio Lastra and Diego Escobar. In short, every player aside from Molina is on the radar for RWC 2023 qualifiers.
The last time that the teams met the scoreline was very close. It took a missed shot at goal from Hernández for Selknam to come away with victory. The Selknam line-up that day was very understrength. The side that faces the Colombian outfit in week 9 is far stronger. An interesting match awaits.
TEAMS
CAFETEROS PRO
1 Diego Posada, 2 Tomás Bartolini, 3 Brián González, 4 Joaquín Sánchez, 5 Eliseo Fourcade, 6 Bryan Guzmán, 7 Diver Ceballos, 8 Juan Mernes, 9 Marcos Amorisa (capt.), 10 Julián Hernández, 11 Manuel de Marco, 12 Juan Agudelo, 13 Valentín Fernández, 14 Alain Altahona, 15 Andrés Álvarez
Replacements: 16 Boris Wenger, 17 Carlos Angulo, 18 Lucas Fernández, 19 Federico Lavanini, 20 Felipe Puertas, 21 Julián Navarro, 22 Jhojan Ortíz, 23 Manuel Alfaro
SELKNAM
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Vittorio Lastra, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Franco Molina, 6 Martín Sigren, 7 Santiago Edwards, 8 Ernesto Tchimino, 9 Lukas Carvallo, 10 Rodrigo Fernández, 11 Clemente Armstrong, 12 Matías Garafulic, 13 Domingo Saavedra (capt.), 14 Gaspar Moltedo, 15 Santiago Videla
Replacements: 16 Jorge Delgado, 17 Salvador Lues, 18 Matías Dittus, 19 Thomas Orchard, 20 Joaquín Milesi, 21 Marcelo Torrealba, 22, José Larenas 23 Juan Zuccarino
Date: Saturday, April 02, 2022
Kick-Off: 6:30pm (Montevideo); 5:30pm (Santiago); 4:30pm (Bogotá)
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, (Montevideo, Uruguay)
Referee: Nehuen Jauri Rivero (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Damían Schneider (Argentina); Cauã Ricardo (Brazil)
TMO: Alejandro Longres (Uruguay)
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2022-04-02 – Cafeteros Pro 19, Selknam 20 (Estadio 3 de Febrero, Ciudad del Este, Paraguay)
2021-03-16 – Selknam 35, Cafeteros Pro 12 (Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile)
2021-04-11 – Cafeteros Pro 11, Selknam 42 (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, Uruguay)
