SRA 2024 – American Raptors vs Selknam – ARN Guide

Infinity Park will be the setting for a pivotal Super Rugby Americas match. The winner of Sunday’s clash between the Americas Raptors and Selknam will rise in the standings. Peñarol’s home defeat against Los Dogos on Friday means dark territory for the Uruguayans and certain changes to the standings.

CURRENT STANDINGS

2-0-3 (W2) 5th

1-3-1 (D1) 6th

LINEUP CHANGES

6 Tommy Clark replaces Mo Vaniolo
7 Mo Vaniolo replaces Aidan Christians
10 Ignacio Mieres replaces Rufus McLean
15 Francisco Quinn replaces Cian Barry

1 Javier Carrasco replaces Simón Donoso
10 Nicolás Roger replaces Felipe Méndez
14 Iñaki Delguy replaces Nicolás Saab

CAPPED INTERNATIONALS

(4) – D Fortuny (AR); D Magno (UY); I Mieres (AR); Devereaux Ferris (US)

(15) – J Carrasco, D Escobar, I Gurruchaga, S Pedrero, J Eissmann, A Escobar, C Saavedra, R Raimundo, J Larenas, D Saavedra, L Strabucchi, T Dussaillant, I Ubeda, M Torrealba, N Garafulic

NOTABLE ABSENTEES

– Rufus McLean (GB-SCO)

– Augusto Sarmiento, Benjamín Videla, Matías Garrafulic, Cristobal Game, Franco Velarde

NOTES

• All Selknam starting forwards are capped Cóndores.
• One Tier 1 player replaces another at 10 for the Raptors; a Puma replaces a Scot.
• The American Raptors are on an unprecedented 2 match winning streak.
• Selknam are all in fie form; the 23-23 draw against league leaders, Los Dogos.
• The Raptors rank bottom for tries scored with 8; Selknam have scored 13.
• The Raptors scrum is also the worst in the league with a 78% success rate. Selknam’s is marginally better with 79%.
• Missed tackles have cost both teams. Selknam have completed 88% compared to 80% by the Raptors.
• Selknam have the highest penalty count with 72. The Raptors have conceded 53.

PREDICTION

This is a contest that could go either way. On the one hand, the American Raptors have home advantage and two consecutive wins. On the other hand, Selknam is yet to play to its true potential in 2024. There is a lot on the line as 4, or 5, competition points will go far to seeing one side above the other once the dust has settled. Moreover, a place in the Top 14 awaits the winner. ARN projects a Selknam win in Colorado by a narrow margin.

LINEUPS

AMERICAN RAPTORS
1 Ma’ake Muti, 2 Diego Fortuny (capt.), 3 Facundo Pomponio, 4 Javon Camp-Villalovos, 5 Will Crawford, 6 Tommy Clark, 7 Mo Vaniolo, 8 Diego Magno, 9 John Lefevre, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 11 Jacob Hidalgo, 12 Watson Fikitonga, 13 Thomas Morani, 14 Daytwon Sheridan, 15 Francisco Quinn

Replacements: 16 Jackson Zabierek, 17 Clay Markoff, 18 Justus Tavai, 19 Mikey Grandy, 20 Shawn Clark, 21 Devereaux Ferris, 22 Aki Pulu, 23 Patrick Madden

SELKNAM
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Alfonso Escobar, 7 Clemente Saavedra (capt.), 8 Raimundo Martínez, 9 Rafael Iriarte, 10 Nicolás Roger, 11 José Larenas, 12 Martín Dumay, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Iñaki Delguy, 15 Luca Strabucchi

Replacements: 16 Tomás Dussailant, 17 Simón Donoso, 18 Baltazar Gurruchaga, 19 Federico Albrisi, 20 Inti Ubeda, 21 Marcelo Torrealba, 22 Nicolás Saab, 23 Nicolás Garafulic

MATCH INFO

Date: Sunday, April 07
Venue: Infinity Park (Denver, CO)
Kickoff: 3pm (MST); 5pm (CL)
Weather Forecast: sunny 14°C, strong winds W (45 km/h)
Broadcasts: Star +; ESPN

OFFICIALS

Referee: Gonzalo de Achával (AR)
Assistants: Benjamín Le Beaupin; Frank Méndez (CL)
TMO: Chris O’Malley (US)

HISTORY

HEAD-TO-HEAD (2) – Raptors (1); Selknam (1) STREAK – American Raptors (1)
Apr 22, 2023 – Raptors 26-22 Selknam (Denver, CO)
Feb 18, 2023 – Selknam 45-10 Raptors (Santiago, CL)