SLAR Preview – Selknam vs Jaguares XV

The Sùper Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR) continues on Thursday. In the final round three match, Selknam have home advantage against Los Jaguares XV. The match is a first between the teams, though Selknam faced Los Ceibos in the 2020 SLAR. That fixture was a tight contest, won by the visitors from Argentina.

Selknam have a team consisting of fourteen starting Chileans and one Argentine. The foreign player is fullback Maximiliano Filizzola. The composition of the team is a reminder of the growing strength of Chilean rugby. The high performance centers have enabled a competitive team to be named to face the powerful Jaguares XV.

All but one of Selknam’s starting Chilean players are from Santiago. The exception is Iñaki Gurruchaga. He will start at looose head prop. His selection comes following Ramón Ayarza’s injury.

Eleven starting Jaguares XV players remain from Sunday. The four changes are splt between the forwards and the backs. Up front Federico Wergzyn replaces Francisco Minervino and Rodrigo Fernández Criado starts in place of Franco Molina. In the backs the changes come on the left wing and at outside center. This sees Juan Pablo Castro replacing Martín Cancelliere and Agustín Segura taking over from Tomás Cubilla.

Selknam have played impressive rugby thus far. The Chilean team is 2-0 after two rounds. In rounds one and two Selknam recorded victories over Los Cafeteros Pro and the Olímpia Lions. Los Jaguares XV are 1-0 thus far. The Argentine side’s first round match against Os Cobras was postponed. In round two Los Jaguares XV defeated Los Cafeteros Pro by a big score. ARN projects a Jaguares XV win on Thursday. Notwithstanding, Selknam will be a far tougher challenger than were Los Cafeteros Pro.

Kickoff is set for 8:00pm local time, 8:00pm Santiago, and Buenos Aires, and 6:00pm Bogotá. Live broadcasts will be provided by ESPN in the competing countries.

TEAMS

SELKNAM
1 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 2 Tomás Dussaillant, 3 Matías Dittus, 4 Maximiliano Silva, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Bautista Staville, 7 Ignacio Silva (capt.), 8 Nicolás Garafulic, 9 Lukas Carvallo, 10 Santiago Videla, 11 Julio Blanc, 12 Franco Velarde, 13 José Larenas, 14 Matías Garafulic, 15 Maximiliano Filizzola

Replacements: 16 Raimundo Martínez, 17 Salvador Lues, 18 Esteban Inostroza, 19 Clemente Saavedra, 20 Santiago Pedrero, 21 Martín Sigren, 22 Patricio Baronio, 23 Ignacio Albornoz

JAGUARES XV
1 Federico Wegrzyn, 2 Martín Vaca, 3 Juan Pablo Zeiss, 4 Federico Gutiérrez, 5 Rodrigo Fernández Criado, 6 Francisco Gorrissen, 7 Juan Martín González, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 9 Felipe Ezcurra (capt.), 10 Martín Elías, 11 Juan Pablo Castro, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 13 Agustín Segura, 14 Sebastián Cancelliere, 15 Juan Bautista Daireaux

Replacements: 16 Beltrán Salese, 17 Francisco Minervino, 18 Joel Sclavi, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Lautaro Bavaro, 21 Gerónimo Prisciantelli, 22 Tomás Cubilla, 23 Tomás Albornoz

Date: Thursday, March 25
Venue: Estadio Elías Figueroa, Valparaiso, Chile
Kickoff: 20:00 (Santiago), 18:00am (Bogotá)
Broadcast: ESPN Brasil, ESPN America Latina

Historical Results:
N/A