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South American rugby eyes will be focus on Talca, Chile on Saturday. Chile play host to the Argentina XV in an uncapped match. The fixture is vital match practice for both teams. Chile are preparing for Rugby World Cup Qualifiers against Paraguay and Brazil while Argentina XV players are looking to garner the attention of Felipe Contepomi and his support staff.
| FORM GUIDE |
Current World Ranking: 21 (61.39 points)
2024-07-20 – Chile 11-52 Scotland (Santiago, CL)
2024-07-13 – Chile 22-5 Belgium (Viña del Mar, CL)
2024-07-06 – Chile 22-17 Hong Kong (Talca, CL)
Current World Ranking: N/A
2024-09-08 – Brazil 29-64 Argentina XV (Jacareí, BR)
| STARTING LINEUP CHANGES (from Chile vs Scotland; Brazil vs Argentina XV) |
3 Iñaki Gurruchaga replaces Matías Dittus
4 Bruno Sáez replaces Clemente Saavedra
7 Alfonso Escobar moves from 8; replaces Raimundo Martínez
8 Clemente Saavedra moves from 4; replaces Alfonso Escobar
9 Benjamín Videla replaces Lucas Berti
12 Nicolás Saab replaces Santiago Videla
15 Luca Strabucchi replaces Diego Warnken
1 Boris Wenger moves from 2; replaces Matías Medrano
2 Leonel Oviedo replaces Boris Wenger
3 Tomás Rapetti replaces Francisco Moreno
8 Joaquín Moro replaces Juan Bernasconi
9 Agustín Moyano replaces Eliseo Morales
10 Santino Di Lucca replaces Julián Hernández
12 Faustino Sánchez Valarolo replaces Bruno Heit
13 Bruno Heit moves from 12; replaces Leonardo Gea Salim
| NOTABLE ABSENTEES |
– Diego Escobar (hooker), Matías Dittus (tight head), Rodrigo Fernández (fly half), Matías Garafulic (center), Santiago Videla (center), Iñaki Ayarza (fullback)
– N/A
| NOTES |
- Chile’s most recent matches were in July. Los Cóndores faced Hong Kong, Belgium and Scotland.
- Uncapped center Nicolás Saab was a stand-out rookie for Selknam.
- French-based Chilean second-rower Bruno Sáez is also uncapped.
- Saab, Sáez and Tomás Salas are the 3 starting Chileans who did not play in the World Cup.
- Pablo Lemoine has made seven changes from the team that faced Scotland in July.
- Clemente Saavedra and Domingo Saavedra are twin brothers.
- Argentina XV N8 Joaquín Moro debuted for Los Pumas in July against Uruguay. Eliseo Morales debuted for Los Pumas against Wales in 2022.
- Santiago Pernas scored a hat-trick against Brazil on Sunday.
- Hooker Leonel Oviedo played for Peñarol and second-rower Franco Carrera played for Cobras. Oviedo’ brother, Joaquín Oviedo, scored two tries in Argentina’s 67-27 win over Australia.
- Both teams have expanded replacement benches due to the non-capped status of the match.
- The Argentina XV first played in 2016. Chile has since claimed one win, a 25-24 result in 2021.
| PREDICTION |
A hot day awaits the players at the foot of the Andes Mountains. This will be welcomed by all involved. It will encourage free-flowing rugby. Chile has play-makers at scrum-half, fly half, inside center and fullback. The Argentine line-up features deadly finishers on both wings as well as at outside center and fullback. The Argentina XV forward will be excited about taking-on a pack of forwards that could start for Chile in a World Cup match. ARN projects an Argentina XV victory.
| LINE-UPS |
CHILE
1 Javier Carrasco 2 Augusto Böhme, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Bruno Sáez, 5 Javier Eissman, 6 Martín Sigren (capt.), 7 Alfonso Escobar, 8 Clemente Saavedra, 9 Benjamín Videla, 10 Tomás Salas, 11 Nicolás Garafulic, 12 Nicolás Saab, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Cristóbal Game, 15 Luca Strabucchi
Replacements: 16 Salvador Lues, 17 Simón Donoso, 18 Baltazar Gurruchaga, 19 Santiago Pedrero, 20 José Miguel Contreras, 21 Raimundo Martínez, 22 Marcelo Torrealba, 23 Gonzalo Jara, 24 Juan Cruz Reves, 25 Ernesto Tchimino
ARGENTINA XV
1 Boris Wenger, 2 Leonel Oviedo, 3 Tomás Rapetti, 4 Franco Carrera, 5 Luciano Asevedo, 6 Facundo García Hamilton, 7 Manuel Bernstein (capt.), 8 Joaquín Moro, 9 Eliseo Morales, 10 Santino Di Lucca, 11 Jerónimo Ulloa, 12 Faustino Sánchez Valarolo, 13 Bruno Heit, 14 Santiago Pernas, 15 Mateo Soler
Replacements: 16 Juan Ignacio Greising Revol, 17 Guillermo Durán, 18 Francisco Moreno, 19 Javier Coronel, 20, Juan Cruz Pérez Rachel, 21 Aitor Bildosola, 22 Agustín Moyano, 23 Leonardo Gea Salim, 24 Juan Bautista Baronio, 25 Marcos Eliçagaray
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Saturday, September 14
Kickoff: 4pm (Buenos Aires); 5am (Sydney, AU)
Venue: Estadio Fiscal de Talca, Talca (CL)
Weather Forecast: Sunny and Hot, 24°C, wind 13 km/h
| HISTORY vs (2016-2023) |
Aug 26, 2023 – Chile 26-28 Argentina XV (Temuco, CL)
Aug 05, 2023 – Chile 13-40 Argentina XV (Antofagasta, CL)
Sep 15, 2021 – Chile 25-24 Argentina XV (Santiago, CL)
Oct 17, 2020 – Argentina XV 25-24 Chile (Montevideo, Uruguay)
May 18, 2019 – Argentina XV 55-03 Chile (Tucumán, Argentina)
Mar 09, 2019 – Chile 10-85 Argentina XV (Santiago, Chile)
Jan 23, 2019 – Argentina XV 47-14 Chile (La Boya, Argentina)
Feb 10, 2018 – Argentina XV 57-12 Chile (Ushuaia, Argentina)
June 03, 2017 –Chile 15-31 Argentina XV (Santiago, Chile)
Feb 18, 2017 – Chile 10-45 Argentina XV (Concepción, Chile)
Jun 04, 2016 – Chile 12-87 Argentina XV (Santiago, Chile)
Feb 13, 2016 – Argentina XV 52-15 Chile (San Juan, Argentina)
| HEAD TO HEAD vs |
Wins: 10
Chile Wins: 1
