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The final round of SLAR 2022 opens with a crucial battle. The 4th placed Cafeteros Pro face the 5th placed Olímpia Lions. The Colombian side enter the match on 16 competition points, one more than that of the Paraguayan team. In short, the winner goes into the Semi Finals to face Peñarol while the loser will be eliminated from SLAR 2022.
The prior SLAR 2022 fixture between Los Cafeteros Pro and the Olímpia Lions took place in Paraguay. Los Cafeteros Pro put on an impressive performance to upset the Paraguayan side 16-12. The significance of that result can be measured by the Olímpia Lions season opening win over Selknam in Chile.
The Olímpia Lions have named a strong side for the final round encounter against Los Cafeteros Pro. It starts up front with a big pack of forwards. The leading Paraguayan in SLAR 2022 has arguably been Daniel Cabral. He starts at loose head while Enrique Quinteros will play tight head.
The scrum will be locked by Lorenzo Colidio and Mariano Garcete. They have been reliable for the Olímpia Lions all season. A hard-working and strong ball-carrying trio will play in the back-row in the form of Álvaro Biscay, Ariel Nuñez, and Mariano Romanini.
Four play-makers will start for the Olímpia Lions in the backs. Ignacio Inchauspe will lead from scrum-half with Nicolás Hogg and Diego Walter starting at fly half and fullback respectively. Paraguayan Sebastián Urbieta has played fly half and inside center this season; he will start in the latter against Los Cafeteros Pro.
The Colombian side will be led by Franco Giudice from fullback. The former Cobras player is unique in being Argentine but not having played SLAR for an Argentine side. Giudice will be joined by Manuel de Marco and Andrés Álvarez in the back-three.
The side-stepping duo of Manuel Alfaro and Leonardo Gea start in the mid-field. They will be outside the playmakers of Eliseo Morales at scrum-half and Julián Hernández and fly half. Both have played so well that some have argued that they deserve consideration for Michael Cheika’s roster for July.
The forwards have power and skill. Javier Corvalán has been the undisputed best loose head prop in SLAR 2022. Other names of note are second-rower Federico Lavanini and flanker Diver Ceballos. The latter has been the leading Colombian in SLAR this year.
Additional interest in the match is that Colombia are to begin international rugby for 2022 next weekend. A special series of friendlies will take place in Medellín wherein Colombia face Panama. If Los Cafeteros Pro win against the Olímpia Lions then test duty for Ceballos, Carlos Angulo, and Andrés Álvarez will need to wait.
TEAMS
OLÍMPIA LIONS
1 Daniel Cabral, 2 Juan Sánchez, 3 Enrique Quinteros, 4 Lorenzo Colidio, 5 Mariano Garcete, 6 Álvaro Biscay, 7 Ariel Nuñez, 8 Mariano Romanini, 9 Ignacio Inchauspe (capt.), 10 Nicolás Hogg, 11 Julián Quetglas, 12 Sebastián Urbieta, 13 Francisco Díez, 14 Agustín Córtes, 15 Diego Walter
Replacements: 16 Emilio Gorostiaga, 17 Manuel Stuchetti, 18 Franco Giacoppo, 19 Agustín Toth, 20 Nicolás Sánchez, 21 Facundo Villalba, 22 Ramiro Amarilla, 23 Juan González
CAFETEROS PRO
1 Javier Corvalán, 2 Boris Wenger, 3 Carlos Angulo, 4 Gregório Hernández, 5 Federico Lavanini, 6 Felipe Puertas, 7 Diver Ceballos, 8 Juan Mernes, 9 Eliseo Morales, 10 Julián Hernández, 11 Andrés Álvarez, 12 Manuel Alfaro, 13 Leonardo Gea, 14 Manuel de Marco, 15 Franco Giudice (capt.)
Replacements: 16 Tomás Bartolini, 17 Diego Posada, 18 Brian González, 19 Eliseo Fourcade, 20 Joaquín Sánchez, 21 José Gálvez, 22 Marcos Amorisa, 23 Valentín Fernández
Date: Tuesday, May 10, 2022
Venue: Estadio Charrúa (Montevideo, Uruguay)
Kickoff: 3:30pm (Montevideo), 2:00pm (Asunción), 12:00pm (Bogotá)
Referee: Francisco González (Uruguay)
Assistant Referees: Gonzalo De Achaval; Cauã Ricardo (Brazil)
TMO: Alejandro Longres (Uruguay)
Broadcast: ESPN (America Latina), ESPN (Brazil), STAR +
HISTORICAL RESULTS
2022-04-08 – Olímpia Lions 12, Cafeteros Pro 16 (Estadio Antonio Aranda, Ciudad del Este, PY)
2021-05-01 – Olímpia Lions 51, Cafeteros Pro 33 (Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo, UY)
2021-04-04 – Olímpia Lions 39, Cafeteros Pro 32 (Estadio Nacional, Santiago, CL)
