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Professional competition between teams from Santiago del Chile and Tucumán begins on Sunday. The historic clash between Selknam and Los Tarucas will take place on Sunday afternoon with the backdrop of the Andes. The two teams have not reached their full potential yet this season but have both had their moments. Both teams were narrowly defeated last weekend.
SRA 2025 –  SELKNAM RESULTS |
SRA 2025 –  TARUCAS RESULTS |
45-6
| LINEUP CHANGES |
|
IN | OUT |
| 5 | Bruno Sáez | Agustín Toth |
| 11 | Federico Kennedy | Felipe Méndez |
| 12 | Nicolás Saab | Matías Garafulic |
| 13 | Matías Garafulic | Nicolás Saab |
| 14 | Clemente Armstrong | Federico Kennedy |
| 15 | Luca Strabucchi | Marco Alvano |
|
IN | OUT |
| 3 | Rodrigo Navarro | Francisco Moreno |
| 4 | Mariano Perondi | Santiago Romano |
| 6 | Facundo Cardozo | Facundo García Hamilton |
| 8 | Thiago Sbrocco | Santiago Aguilar |
| 9 | Estanislao Pregot | Simón Benítez Cruz |
| 12 | Mariano García Ascarate | Tomás Medina |
| 13 | Bautista Estofan | José Gianotti |
| 14 | Martiniano Arrieta | Baltazar García |
| CAPPED INTERNATIONALS |
(20) J Carrasco, R Martínez, S Pedrero, B Sáez, M Sigrén, A Escobar, J Milesi, M Torrealba, JC Reyes, F Kennedy, N Saab, M Garafulic, C Armstrong, L Strabucchi, S Lues, N Aguayo, I Gurruchaga, A Kuzmanic, E Tchimino, D Warnken
| NOTES |
- Los Tarucas arrive in Chile fired up after losing to Los Pampas by a single point.
- Selknam welcome Luca Strabucchi back from Los Cóndores 7’s duty. He starts at fullback.
- Loose head Salvador Lues is covering hooker and Raimundo Martínez continues at hooker after having played flanker throughout his test career for Chile.
- Tomás Baguley will make his debut for Selknam as a replacement.
- Miguel Mukdise will also play his first SRA match. He is a Tarucas replacement.
- Rodrigo Navarro debuts for Los Tarucas at tight head prop and Martiniano Arrieta debuts on the right wing.
- Stefano Ferro captains Los Tarucas from fullback. He does so with regular captain Santiago Aguilar out.
- The match itself is excellent preparation for the next stage of Chile’s Rugby World Cup 2027 Qualifying campaign. 20 Selknam players are capped by Chile.
- Selknam is less dependent on foreign talent compared to Argentines playing for Peñarol, Cobras and Yacare.
- The one starting Selknam player who does not play for a Chilean club is Juan Cruz Reyes who qualifies for Chile via a parent.
- Los Tarucas are 100¨% Argentine. No Tarucas players have caps for Los Pumas. The one capped player on the roster is hooker Diego Fortuny who will not face Selknam.
- Tucumán province borders Chile. This is unique among the contemporary SRA battles between Selknam and Argentine teams.
| PREDICTION |
In their brief history, Los Tarucas have shown to have a strong scrum and excellent lineout to maul weaponry. These two facets happen to also be focus points of Selknam’s game. However, both are bo strangers to unleashing their backs. This match could well be one with plenty of flair. A factor to continue to this is the weather as a sunny and dry day awaits the teams in Santiago. The hot conditions all ask plenty of lungs of all places. Selknam are favorites to win in Santiago del Chile.
| LINEUPS |
SELKNAM
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Raimundo Martínez, 3 Nahuel DiBiassi, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Bruno Sáez, 6 Martín Sigrén (capt.), 7 Alfonso Escobar, 8 Joaquin Milesi, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Juan Cruz Reyes, 11 Federico Kennedy, 12 Nicolas Saab, 13 Matías Garafulic, 14 Clemente Armstrong, 15 Luca Strabucchi
Replacements: 16 Salvador Lues, 17 Norman Aguayo, 18 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 19 Agustín Toth, 20 Andrés Kuzmanic, 21 Ernesto Tchimino, 22 Diego Warnken, 23 Tomás Baguley
TARUCAS
1 Benjamín Garrido, 2 Juan Manuel Vivas, 3 Rodrigo Navarro, 4, Mariano Perondi, 5 Álvaro García Iandolino, 6 Facundo Cardozo, 7 Agustín Sarelli, 8 Thiago Sbrocco, 9 Estanislao Pregot, 10 Nicolás Roger, 11 Tomás Vanni, 12 Mariano García Ascarate, 13 Bautista Estofan, 14 Martiniano Arrieta, 15 Stefano Ferro (capt.)
Replacements: 16 Tomás Bartolini, 17 Julián Martín, 18 Francisco Moreno, 19 Facundo García Hamilton, 20 Miguel Mukdise, 21 Simón Benítez Cruz, 22 Ignacio Cerruti, 23 José Gianotti
| MATCH INFO |
Date: Sunday, March 16
Venue: CARR (Santiago, CL)
Kickoff: 2:30pm (AR); 2:30pm (PY)
Weather Forecast: Clear Skies, 19°C; Wind E (14 km/h)
Broadcasts: ESPN; Disney +
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Tomás Bertazza (AR)
Assistants: Juan Pablo Chumbita (AR), Sebastián Toledo (CL)
TMO: Ignacio Calle (CL)
| HEAD-TO-HEAD (0) |
No prior fixtures
