Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
The Estádio Du Cambuzano in Jacareí will be the setting for an enticing Super Rugby Americas match on Saturday. The champion conquering Cobras have home advantage against Selknam, a team with no shortage of World Cup Chilean players.
Os Cobras enter the match as a hit and miss team. The Brazilian side started Super Rugby Americas 2024 brilliantly; Os Cobras upset Peñarol in the opening round. The hard-fought win had he scrum as a central component.
Round two was a different outcome for Os Cobras. What starts promising turned out to be a heavy defeat against Los Dogos. Concerning for the Brazilian effort was how players tired during the second-half. The replacements were unable to perform the role of ensuring 80 competitive minutes.
Head Coach Josh Reeves has gone for a team eyeing Rugby World Cup Qualifiers. Colombian Alain Altahona is the only starting player who is not eligible for Brazil. He joins Daniel Lima and Lucas Spago in the back-three.
Brazil’s goal is to qualify for Rugby World Cup 2027. It would be the country’s first appearance on the biggest stage. Chile debuted at Rugby World Cup 2023. Of note is that Brazil was regularly beating Chile during the RWC 2015-2019 cycle. This changed with the project of Selknam and Super Rugby Americas.
The line-up is one which could be close to a team to play in the home July Internationals. A notable point, nonetheless comes with the dual play-makers with Lucas Spago named out of position at fullback.
The replacements feature the hometown boy Matheus Cláudio in addition to test scrum-half Douglas Rauth and four Argentines. The power of props Luciano Gabelliere and Francisco Moreno will come on as will the workrate of Franco Carrera and the play-making of Agustín Llano.
Selknam had a false start to their season. The Chileans had a bye in the opening round. Their second round match was thus their season opener. Selknam were on top at half-time against Yacare in Asunción, Paraguay. A win looked likely but Selknam failed to score second-half points. The players were clearly unhappy while questions need to be answered by Jacob Mangin and his assistant coaches.
Mangin has named a big and powerful forward pack. Salvador Lues, Tomás Dussaillant, and Iñaki Gurruchaga start in the front-row. Additional side of note sees Argentine Federico Albrisi, who was signed as a second-rower, playing flanker. Clemente Saavedra played World Cup matches in the second-row but is also playing flanker against Os Cobras.
A notable change comes at scrum-half; Rafael Iriarte replaces Marcelo Torrealba. This sees an Argentine halves duo with Iriarte playing inside Nicolás Roger. Matías Garrafulic is notably absent from the mid-field which sees an opportunity for Martín Dumay.
Os Cobras and Selknam have faced-off twice each year since 2021. Selknam won the inaugural clash by a dominant 66-10 scoreline. It remains the biggest win. The overall results are four wins to Selknam and two to Os Cobras.
The one prior match between the teams in Brazil was last March. Os Cobras’ 30-24 victory was among the high points of their Super Rugby Americas 2023 campaign. Selknam won the return fixture 33-17 in Curicó in May.
COBRAS
1 Brendon Alves, 2 Endy Willian Pinheiro, 3 Levy Marinho, 4 Ben Donald, 5 Gabriel Oliveira, 6 Cleber Dias (capt.), 7 Adrio de Melo, 8 André Arruda, 9 Felipe Gonçalves, 10 João Amaral, 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Robert Tenorio, 13 Lorenzo Massari, 14 Alain Altahona, 15 Lucas Spago
Replacements: 16 Henrique Ferreira, 17 Luciano Gabelliere, 18 Francisco Moreno, 19 Franco Carrera, 20 Rafael Teixeira, 21 Matheus Cláudio, 22 Douglas Rauth, 23 Agustín Llano
SELKNAM
1 Salvador Lues, 2 Tomás Dussaillant, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Federico Albrisi, 7 Clemente Saavedra (capt.), 8 Raimundo Martínez, 9 Rafael Iriarte, 10 Nicolás Roger, 11 José Larenas, 12 Martín Dumay, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Franco Velarde, 15 Iñaki Delguy
Replacements: 16 Simón Donoso, 17 Javier Carrasco, 18 Baltazar Gurruchaga, 19 Augusto Sarmiento, 20 Inti Úbeda, 21 Marcelo Torrealba, 22 Felipe Méndez, 23 Alfonso Escobar
Date: Saturday, March, 02
Kick-Off: 5pm (CL); 6pm (Brasília)
Venue: Estádio Du Cambuzano (Jacareí, BR)
Referee: Simón Larrubia
Assistant Referees: Mauro Rossi; Guilherme Zaparoli
TMO: Víctor Barbosa
Broadcast: ESPN; Star +
HISTORIC RESULTS
May 06, 2023 – Selknam 33-17 Cobras (Curicó, CL)
Mar 18, 2023 – Cobras 30-24 Selknam (São Paulo, BR)
Apr 29, 2022 – Selknam 33-08 Cobras (Montevideo, UY)
Mar 19, 2022 –Selknam 46-10 Cobras (Valparaíso, CL)
May 01, 2021 – Cobras 21-20 Selknam (Montevideo, UY)
Apr 04, 2021 – Selknam 66-10 Cobras (Santiago, CL)
