SLAR Preview – Selknam vs Cobras

Selknam and Os Cobras Brasil XV will meet for the first time on Sunday. Their match will be a feature-fixture of round 5 of the Super Liga Americana de Rugby (SLAR). Selknam were narrowly beaten in a nail-bitter by Peñarol in round four while Os Cobras completed their first win of the season.

Selknam go into the match with a strong, and arguably full-strength line-up. Ignacio Silva will again captain the side and be partnered by Martín Sigren as the starting flankers. The pairing have started SLAR very strongly. Nicolás Garafulic completed the all-Cóndores back-row.

It is also all Chilean up-front; Javier Carrasco, Tomás Dussaillant, and Matías Dittus start as the front-row. Santiago Portillo, and Clemente Saavedra lock the scrum. As such, Portillo is the only non-Chilean in the starting forwards.

Patricio Baronio, and Ignacio Albornoz, are the additional Argentine players named the start. They will play at scrum-half and fly half respectively. Santiago Videla, and Domingo Saavedra start in the mid-field. Videla will give Selknam a second pivot. While the back-three sees Franco Velarde, and Matías Garafulic, joining Rodrigo Fernández. Fernández is also a play-making option.

Os Cobras have pieced-together a side that has regular names, yet also has rotation. The front-row is familiar; Caique Silva, Yan Rosetti, and Alejandro Luna pack down. Luna is one of three Argentines in the starting line-up. The others are second-rower Manuel Bernstein and fullback Franco Guidice.

Bernstein partners Brazilian international Gabriel Paganini in the second-row. Fellow Tupis Matheus Cláudio, Cléber Días, and André Arruda complete the starting formation.

Laurent Bourda-Couhet and Joshua Reeves form the starting halves. They will have plenty of speed outside them. Wingers Daniel Lima, and Daniel Sancery are joined by Robert Tenorio out of position at inside center. Captain Felipe Sancery continues at outside center.

Sunday will be the first meeting between Selknam and Os Cobras. It will also be the first professional rugby match between teams from Chile and Brazil.

Selknam enter the match as favorites. This is based on a combination of factors. They include results thus far in SLAR, the Brazil XV vs Chile XV match from 2020, the players named for the respective teams and continuity. ARN projects as Selknam bonus point victory by 15 points.

Kickoff is set for 4:30pm local time, 5:30pm Brasília, and 3:30pm Bogotá. Live broadcasts will be provided by ESPN in the competing countries.

SELKNAM
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Tomás Dussaillant, 3 Matías Dittus, 4 Santiago Portillo, 5 Clemente Saavedra, 6 Martín Sigren, 7 Ignacio Silva (capt.), 8 Nicolás Garafulic, 9 Patricio Baronio, 10 Ignacio Albornoz, 11 Franco Velarde, 12 Santiago Videla, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Matías Garafulic, 15 Rodrigo Fernández

Replacements: 16 Raimundo Martínez, 17 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 18 Esteban Inostroza, 19 Santiago Pedrero, 20 Bautista Stavile, 21 Lukas Carvallo, 22 Lucca Avelli, 23 Alfonso Escobar

COBRAS
1 Caique Silva, 2 Yan Rosetti, 3 Alejandro Luna, 4 Manuel Bernstein, 5 Gabriel Paganini, 6 Matheus Cláudio, 7 Cléber Días, 8 André Arruda, 9 Laurent Bourda-Couhet, 10 Joshua Reeves, 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Robert Tenorio, 13 Felipe Sancery (capt.), 14 Daniel Sancery, 15 Franco Guidice

Replacements: 16 Santiago Grippo, 17 Leonel Moreno, 18 Matheus da Rocha, 19 Adrio de Melo, 20 Arthur Bergo, 21 Douglas Rauth, 22 Moisés Duque, 23 Marcos de Sanctis

Date: Sunday, April 04
Venue: Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile
Kickoff: 16:30 (Santiago), 17:30 Brasília, 15:30 (Bogotá)
Referee: Esteban Filipanics (Argentina)
Broadcast: ESPN Brasil, ESPN America Latina

Historical Results:
N/A