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For the first time ever a South American professional team will face a North American professional team in a regular season league fixture. This will happen in Santiago, Chile on Saturday with Selknam having home advantage against the American Raptors.
Selknam are a success story of professionalism. The Chileans reached the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) final in 2022. They fell to Peñarol at the final hurdle but what mattered what how hardened the players became. Chile went on to qualify for the World Cup by beating the USA and the Eagles ultimately were eliminated by Portugal.
For Selknam SLAR 2022 was preparing for the Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifiers. For Selknam Super Rugby Americas 2023 is about preparing for the World Cup itself. Chile’s roster will be highly-based on Selknam players.
With the World Cup in mind, Selknam start their Super Rugby Americas season with some noteworthy selections. Regular test fullback, Santiago Videla will play for the first time at this level at outside center. He did play on the wing against the USA in Denver, though his selection at outside center suggests Chile are trying things now to prepare for the World Cup.
It should be noted that Videla was inside center for much of SLAR 2021. Against the American Raptors, vice captain Matías Garafulic will play inside Videla while Francisco Urroz will play fullback. Gaspar Moltedo and Benjamín Videla are the least experienced backs. They start on the left wing and at scrum-half.
Selknam’s forwards have the notable inclusion of Pablo Huete. The 34-year-old will debut for the Chilean side. He previously played professional rugby in New Zealand and France, including for Top 14 side Bayonne.
Huete and Santiago Pedrero form the second-row which sees Clemente Saavedra moving to flanker. It is a policy which Chile may employ against the big Samoa pack at the World Cup. Meanwhile, Joaquín Miesi gets an opportunity to start at the back of the scrum.
Miesi will play opposite the most capped Americas player in history. Uruguayan Diego Magno will start at N8 for the Raptors. He regularly played their for the Houston SaberCats in Major LEague Rugby but his position for Uruguay and Peñarol has mostly been second-row.
Fellow former MLR and Peñarol player, Juan Echeverría starts at tight head prop. Additional South Americans in the side come at scrum-half, fly half and fullback. Former Pumas Martín Landajo, Lucas González Amorosino and Ramiro Moyano all start. Chile’s Sebastián Otero is on the bench against his countrymen.
USA names of note include Ryan James on the right wing, Dominick Iacovino at outside center and Ronan Murphy at flanker. The side will be captained by Mikey Grandy from the second-row.
ESPN is covering Super Rugby Americas in South America. Viewers in North American can tune in to the American Raptors matches on the team’s website.
SELKNAM
1 Salvador Lues, 2 Thomas Dusaillant, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Pablo Huete, 6 Clemente Saavedra, 7 Ignacio Silva, 8 Joaquín Miesi, 9 Benjamín Videla, 10 Rodrigo Fernández, 11 Gaspar Moltedo, 12 Matías Garafulic, 13 Santiago Videla (capt.), 14 Nicolás Garafulic, 15 Francisco Urroz
Replacements: 16 Diego Escobar, 17 Javier Carrasco, 18 Lucas Bordigoni, 19 Bruno Sáez, 20 Raimundo Martínez, 21 Lukas Carvallo, 22 José Ignacio Larenas, 23 Pablo Casas
AMERICAN RAPTORS
1 Ma’ake Muti, 2 Sione Fineuikai, 3 Juan Echeverría, 4 Mikey Grandy (capt.), 5 William Crawford, 6 Shawn Clark, 7 Ronan Murphy, 8 Diego Magno, 9 Martín Landajo, 10 Lucas González Amorosino, 11 Seimou Smith, 12 Cassh Maluia, 13 Dominick Iacovino, 14 Ryan James, 15 Ramiro Moyano
Replacements: 16 Franco Palillo, 17 Payton Telea-Ilalio, 18 Sebastián Otero, 19 Max Dacey, 20 Tommy Clark, 21 Ethan McVeigh, 22 Line Latu, 23 Watson Filikitonga
Date: Saturday, February 18
Kick-Off: 6pm (CL); 4pm (Eastern)
Venue: La Pintana, Santiago (CL)
Referee: Gonzalo de Achával (AR)
Assistant Referees: Juan Manuel Martínez (AR); Sebastián Toledo (CL)
TMO: Ignacio Calle (CL)
HISTORIC RESULTS
N/A
