SLAR Preview – Cobras vs Selknam

Os Cobras face Selknam in the final match of the regular SLAR season. The game is an opportunity for Os Cobras Brasil XV to get revenge for their 66-10 hammering against Selknam at the start of April. Selknam, meanwhile, are looking to get through the match and prepare for their Semi Final seven days later against Peñarol.

In their final match of the 2021 SLAR season os Cobras will have divided thoughts. On the one hand they want to end on a high; on the other hand, thoughts drift to what is on the horizon. Brazil will face Chile, Colombia, and Paraguay in RWC 2023 qualifiers in June. The line-up named to face Selknam is close to the potential line-up to expect in round one of the South American RWC qualifiers.

Os Cobras will have fourteen Brazilians starting against Selknam. Argentine second-rower Manuel Bernstein is the exception. Bernstein has been a starter throughout the SLAR season for Os Cobras. He will again lock the scrum with Gabriel Paganini.

Caique Silva, Yan Rosetti, and Matheus Rocha start up front while Cléber Días, Matheus Claudio, and André Arruda start in the back-row. The same names loom as starters for the RWC qualifiers. The same is true of the backs, all of whom are capped by Brazil.

Selknam have rotated heavily for the match. The game falls five days after the hard-fought win over Peñarol. The Chilean side will be looking to repeat that outcome in the Semi Final next weekend. Ignacio Silva will start the Semi Final but he will be a replacement against Os Cobras on Saturday.

The team that will start against Os Cobras are mainly names who have been replacements throughout the season. There will be starts for Tomás Dussaillant, Esteban Inostroza, and Bautista Stavile in the forwards and Lukas Carvallo, Julio Blanc, and Lucca Avelli in the backs. Santiago Videl moves from inside center to fly half while José Larenas captains the side from inside center.

April’s match between Selknam and Os Cobras was the only prior meeting between the sides. Selknam were comfortable winners; they dominated their opponents. That result and overall form point to another win for Selknam on Saturday. ARN projects a Selknam victory by 12 points.

Kickoff is set for 9:00pm local time, Asunción, Buenos Aires and Brasília; 8:00pm Santiago; and 7pm Bogotá. Live broadcasts will be provided by ESPN in the competing countries.

COBRAS
1 Caique Silva, 2 Yan Rosetti, 3 Matheus Rocha, 4 Manuel Bernstein, 5 Gabriel Paganini, 6 Cléber Días 7 Matheus Claudio, 8 André Arruda, 9 Felipe Cunha, 10 Joshua Reeves, 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Moisés Duque, 13 Felipe Sancery (capt.), 14 Robert Tenorio, 15 Daniel Sancery

Replacements: 16 Leonardo Souza, 17 Leonel Moreno, 18 Alejandro Luna, 19 Adrio de Melo, 20 Arthur Bergo, 21 Laurent Bourda-Couhet, 22 Gabriel Quirino, 23 Lucas Spago

SELKNAM
1 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 2 Tomás Dussaillant, 3 Esteban Inostroza, 4 Tomás Orchard, 5 Santiago Pedrero, 6 Alfonso Escobar, 7 Bautista Stavile, 8 Nicolás Garafulic, 9 Lukas Carvallo, 10 Santiago Videla, 11 Julio Blanc, 12 José Larenas (capt.), 13 Maximilano Filizzola, 14 Lucca Avelli, 15 Rodrigo Fernández

Replacements: 16 Raimundo Martínez, 17 Augusto Bohme, 18 Salvador Lues, 19 Santiago Portillo, 20 Ignacio Silva, 21 Patricio Baronio, 22 Matías Garafulic, 23 Domingo Saavedra

Date: Saturday, May 01
Venue: Estadio Charrúa, Montevideo
Kickoff: 9:00pm (Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Brasília), 8:00pm (Santiago), 7:00pm (Bogotá)
Referee: Francisco González (Uruguay)
Broadcast: ESPN Extra (America Latina), ESPN 2 (Brazil)

Historical Results:
2021-04-04 Selknam 66, Cobras 10 (Estadio Nacional, Santiago, Chile)