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Yacare and Selknam clash at the Héroes de Curupayty on Saturday. The week two match of Super Rugby Americas 2024 sees the Asunción side chasing their first win against the Chilean side who open their season.
Yacare are coming off an opening round home defeat. Los Pampas impressed in earning a bonus point win. Selknam watched on as the team with a bye in round one.
The 48-32 outcome was a tough loss for Yacare. The team did not play badly; instead, Los Pampas were simply in a class of their own. Rookies made the step up and delivered. Joaquín Moro, Bernabé López Fleming, Santiago Pernas and Bruno Heit all scored tries on debut.
Ricardo Le Fort has responded by making six changes. Among them is a change in the captaincy; Argentina XV hooker Axel Zapata takes over from Paraguayan second-rower Mariano Garcete. Zapata will be joined by Ezequiel Reyes and Rolando Portillo in the front-row. Portillo replaces Enrique Quinteros.
Garcete himself makes way for Lucio Anconetani. The Argentina XV second-rower debuted for Yacare as a replacement against Los Pampas. He excelled for Os Cobras in Super Rugby Americas 2023. Anconetani and Ignacio Martínez will lock the scrum.
The remaining four changes are in the back-line. Centers Sebastián Urbieta and Ramiro Amarilla trade positions from outside center to inside center. They do so with Joaquín Lamas gaining his first start at fly half. Thomas Mac Call moves from fullback to the right wing with Juan Manuel Molinuevo now starting at the back.
Selknam’s season opener marks the start of a new era. The Super Liga Américana de Rugby (SLAR) / Super Rugby Americas recipe had so much to do with how and why Chile qualified for and played at Rugby World Cup 2023. Expansion to 24 teams boosts Chile’s chances of playing again in 2027.
The Chilean side was competitive in SLAR 2020, 2021 and 2022. The team did not enjoy the same success in Super Rugby America 2023. This was related to a decision to rotate players throughout the season. This ensured more opportunities and aided preparations for the World Cup.
Super Rugby Americas 2024 sees changes. New Zealander Jacob Mangin has replaced Argentine Nicolás Bruzzone as Head Coach. Another change sees Clemente Saavedra as the new captain. This comes with Santiago Videla now playing Major League Rugby (MLR).
Mangin’s first assignment in charge will be demanding. He has named a side with no shortage of World Cup Chileans. Selknam’s eight starting forwards all played at the World Cup. So too did five of the seven starting backs.
The two exceptions come at fly half and fullback. Mangin has named Argentines Nicolás Roger and Iñaki Delguy to start in these positions. Both players arrived at Selknam this season. They have both played for the Argentina XV but are uncapped. They have both also previously played in Super Rugby Americas for other teams.
Roger will play outside Marcelo Torrealba. It is a notable combination. Both are attacking players and Selknam have Chile’s excellent center combination of Matías Garafulic, and Domingo Saavedra who will ask questions of the defense.
Delguy will form a back-three with Franco Velarde and José Larenas. Both featured at the World Cup with Larenas becoming Chile’s first player to reach 50 test caps.
The all-Chilean forward pack has named a big scrum. This includes captain Clemente Saavedra starting at flanker despite having been used a lot at lock in both Super Rugby Americas 2023 and at the World Cup. Santiago Pedrero, and Javier Eissmann form the second-row which notably takes place with Pablo Huete now having retired.
Saturday’s fixture will be the seventh match between professional teams from Paraguay and Chile in the South American league. The early end to the 2020 season meant the first was in Súper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) 2021. Selknam won 29-16 at home while the Paraguayan side won 24-21 in Montevideo. The teams again split results in 2022 while in 2023 Yacare won both matches.
TEAMS
YACARE
1 Ezequiel Reyes, 2 Axel Zapata (capt.), 3 Rolando Portillo, 4 Ignacio Martínez, 5 Lucio Anconetani, 6 Juan Cruz Pérez, 7 Felipe Puertas, 8 Nicolás Parada Heit, 9 Juan Cruz Strada, 10 Joaquin Lamas, 11 Juan González, 12 Sebastián Urbieta, 13 Ramiro Amarilla, 14 Thomas Mac Call, 15 Juan Manuel Molinuevo
Replacements: 16 Lucas Otaño, 17 Daniel Cabral, 18 Estéfano Aranda, 19 Ariel Núñez, 20 Enzo Sander, 21 Diego Miño, 22 Tomás Vanni, 23 Arturo Lopez
SELKNAM
1 Salvador Lues, 2 Tomás Dussaillant, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Raimundo Martínez, 7 Clemente Saavedra (capt.), 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Nicolás Roger, 11 José Larenas, 12 Matías Garafulic, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Franco Velarde, 15 Iñaki Delguy
Replacements: 16 Simón Donoso 17. Javier Carrasco 18. Baltazar Gurruchaga 19. Federico Albrisi 20. Inti Úbeda 21. Rafael Iriarte 22. Felipe Méndez 23. Martín Dumay
Date: Saturday, May 24
Kick-Off: 7pm (PY); 7pm (CL)
Venue: Héroes de Curupayty, Asunción (PY)
Referee: Simón Larrubia (AR)
Assistant Referees: Sergio Alvarenga; Federico Solari
TMO: Marco Demestri
HISTORIC RESULTS
May 20, 2023 – Selknam 19-20 Yacare (Santiago, CL)
Apr 01, 2023 – Yacare 21-11 Selknam (Asunción, PY)
Apr 23, 2002 – Selknam 41-19 Olímpia Lions (Montevideo, UY)
Mar 13, 2022 – Selknam 20-22 Olímpia Lions (Valparaíso, Chile)
Apr 16, 2021 – Olímpia Lions 24-21 Selknam (Montevideo, Uruguay)
Mar 16, 2021 – Selknam 29-16 Olímpia Lions (Santiago, Chile)
