Super Rugby Americas 2024 – Raptors vs Dogos – ARN Guide

The American Raptors play host to Los Dogos at Infinity Park on Sunday. It is 6th at home against 2nd in the second meeting between the teams in 2024. The prior clash was in the opening round with Los Dogos smashing the Raptors 56-8 in Córdoba, Argentina. Recent rugby shows that the Raptors are playing much sharper.

CURRENT STANDINGS

2-0-4 (L1) 6th

5-0-1 (W1) 2nd

DEBUTANT

(0)

(1) Santos Juárez

LINEUP CHANGES

2 Jackson Zabierek replaces Diego Fortuny
5 Mikey Grandy replaces Javon Camp-Villalovos
6 Shawn Clark replaces Tommy Clark
9 Devereaux Ferris replaces John Lefevre
12 Aki Pulu replaces Watson Fikitonga 

7 Lorenzo Colidio replaces Efraín Elías with Valentín Cabral moving to 8.
12 Leonado Gea Salim replaces Faustino Sánchez Valarolo with Felipe Mallía moving to 13.
11 Nahuel Romero replaces Agustín De Vertiz with Mateo Soler moving to 15

CAPPED INTERNATIONALS

(4) – D Magno (Uruguay), D Ferris (USA), I Mieres (Argentina), D Fortuny (Argentina)

(0)

NOTABLE ABSENTEES

– Rufus McLean (GB- SCO)

– Juan Baronio, Efraín Elías, Lorenzo Colidio and Faustino Sánchez Valarolo

NOTES

• Uruguayan Diego Magno captains the Raptors for the first time. Regular skipper Diego Fortuny is on the replacements.
• Magno has not missed a tackle. He has a 100% take completion for the season.
• With 4 SRA 2024 tries, Mateo Soler has more than all others involved in Sunday’s match in Colorado.
• Argentina u19 hooker Santos Juárez will debut as a replacement for Los Dogos.
• Los Dogos are unbeaten in three meetings against the American Raptors.
• Los Dogos are 5 points behind league leaders, Los Pampas. Los Dogos will go top with a Bonus Point win by 21+.
• A Raptors win would see the Colorado side into the play-off’s zone for the first time ever.
• Changes to Los Dogos include Efraín Elías, Lorenzo Colidio and Faustino Sánchez Valarolo who are have been called-up by Los Pumitas for the u20 Rugby Championship.

PREDICTION

There will not be Colorado winter conditions on Sunday; rather, a hot afternoon awaits the teams. Many past sunny SRA matches at Infinity Park have been high-scoring contests. The Raptors will look to run the ball against the Argentines while Los Dogos will use their full deck of a strong set-piece, solid defense, sharp tactical play and excellent finishers. Los Dogos are projected to win by a margin over 18+ and secure the bonus point.

LINEUPS

AMERICAN RAPTORS
1 Ma’ake Muti, 2 Diego Fortuny (capt.), 3 Facundo Pomponio, 4 Javon Camp-Villalovos, 5 Will Crawford, 6 Tommy Clark, 7 Mo Vaniolo, 8 Diego Magno, 9 John Lefevre, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 11 Jacob Hidalgo, 12 Watson Fikitonga, 13 Thomas Morani, 14 Daytwon Sheridan, 15 Francisco Quinn

Replacements: 16 Diego Fortuny, 17 Clay Markoff, 18 Koby Baker, 19 Jason Camp-Villalovos, 20 Tommy Clark, 21 John Lefevre, 22 Watson Filikitonga, 23 Patrick Madden

DOGOS
1 Boris Wenger, 2 Tomas Bartolini, 3 Octavio Filippa, 4 Lautaro Simes, 5 Franco Molina (capt.), 6 Aitor Bildosola, 7 Lorenzo Colidio, 8 Valentín Cabral, 9 Agustin Moyano, 10 Julián Hernández, 11 Nahuel Romero, 12 Leonado Gea Salim, 13 Felipe Mallía, 14 Lautaro Cipriani, 15 Mateo Soler

Replacements: 17 Octavio Barbatti, 18 Santos Juárez Strada, 19 Pedro Delgado, 20 Federico Rolotti, 21 Nicolás Viola, 22 Valentino Di Capua, 23 Agustín de Vertiz

MATCH INFO

Date: Sunday, April 14
Venue: Infinity Park (Denver, CO)
Kickoff: 3pm (MST); 6pm (AR)
Weather Forecast: sunny 27°C, winds E (14 km/h)
Broadcasts: Star +; ESPN

OFFICIALS

Referee: Jauri Rivero (AR)
Assistants: Federico Solari (AR); Chris Huff (US)
TMO: Chris O’Malley (US)

HISTORY

HEAD-TO-HEAD (3) – Raptors (0); Selknam (3) STREAK – American Raptors (3)
Feb 15, 2024 – Dogos 56-8 Raptors (Córdoba, AR)
Mar 24, 2023 – American Raptors 24-37 Dogos (Denver, Colorado, US)
May 21, 2023 – Dogos 40-32 American Raptors (Córdoba, AR)