Two winning teams from round one of SLAR 2022 will battle-it-out in the opening match of round two on Saturday. Los Jaguares XV face the Olímpia Lions in an early season fixture that may provide indications into how the season will develop.
Los Jaguares XV have made just one change for the match. The team’s captain Tomás Cubilla was not involved in the opening round match. He replaces Ramiro D’Agostino on the right wing.
Former Super Rugby Jaguar Bautista Pedemonte will make his SLAR debut from the bench. Also among the replacements are former Olímpia Lion Joaquín Pellandini and Puma Ignacio Mendy.
If it is not broken then there is nothing to repair. Such an approach applies to the line-up named to take to the field for Los Jaguares XV. It does not apply to both teams; however, as the Olímpia Lions have changed over half of the team that started against Selknam.
Conrado Iglesias started ahead of Mariano Muntaner at hooker while Rolando Portillo will be the starting tight head prop in place of Luis Enrique Quinteros. Captain Ignacio Gandini makes the move from flanker to N8m doing so in front of last Sunday’s man-of-the-match Mariano Romanini.
In the backs there will be a SLAR debut for former Pumita Matías Sauze at scrum-half. He replaces Ignacio Inschauspe and will form a new halves combination alongside fellow Argentine Nicolás Hogg who replaces Sebastián Urbieta.
Further out wide Julián Quetglas makes the move from wing to center. Ramiro Amarilla and Ignacio González also have starts at inside center and on the wing respectively.
Form suggests that the contest could go either way. Los Jaguares XV were 33-22 winners over Los Cafeteros Pro on Sunday. The Colombian side had the better of play in the second-half. Meanwhile, the Olímpia Lions produced a 22-20 upset win over Selknam. In short, the Argentine franchise underperformed and the Paraguayan overperformed in round one.
Los Jaguares XV are undefeated in SLAR. The same is true of Los Ceibos, the Argentine franchise in the inaugural SLAR season in 202o. The closest of the four matches was the 2021 Semi Final wherein the Argentine side won by 12 points.
TEAMS
JAGUARES XV
1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Andrea Panzarini, 3 Javier Coronel, 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 5 Manuel Bernstein, 6 Jerónimo Gómez Vara, 7 Eliseo Chiavassa, 8 Santiago Ruiz, 9 Rafael Iriarte, 10 Santiago Mare, 11 Martín Bogado, 12 Juan Pablo Castro, 13 Agustín Segura, 14 Tomás Cubilla (capt.), 15 Gerónimo Prisciantelli
Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Santiago Pullela, 18 Lautaro Caro Saisi, 19 Lucio Anconetani, 20 Bautista Pedemonte, 21 Joaquín Pellandini, 22 Ignacio Mendy, 23 Ramiro D’agostino
OLÍMPIA LIONS
1 Daniel Cabral, 2 Conrado Iglesias, 3 Rolando Portillo, 4 Lorenzo Colidio, 5 Mariana Garcete, 6 Federico Simondi, 7 Ariel Nuñez, 8 Ignacio Gandini, 9 Matías Sauze, 10 Nicolás Hogg, 11 Juan González, 12 Ramiro Amarilla, 13 Julián Quetglas, 14 Ignacio González, 15 Diego Walter
Replacements: 16 Emilio Gorotiaga, 17 Ezequiel Reyes, 18 Luis Enrique Quinteros, 19 Agustín Toth, 20 Álvaro Biscay, 21 Ignacio Inchauspe, 22 Sebastián Urbieta, 23 Gianfrando Parodí
Date: Saturday, March 19, 2022
Kick-Off: 1pm (Santiago, Asunción, Buenos Aires); 11am (Bogotá)
Venue: Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander (Valparaíso, Chile)
Referee: Nehuen Jauri Rivero (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Martin Eusebio, Frank Mendez
TMO: Ignacio Calle
Broadcast: ESPN (America Latina), ESPN (Brazil), Star +
Historical Results:
2021-05-08 Olímpia Lions 17, Jaguares XV 29 (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, Uruguay)
2021-04-26 Olímpia Lions 26, Jaguares XV 40 (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, Uruguay)
2021-03-30 Jaguares XV 71, Olímpia Lions 13 (Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile)
2020-03-06 Ceibos 48, Olímpia Lions 8 (Tala RC, Córdoba, Argentina)