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Guatemala toppled Panama this afternoon in the South American C Championship, winning 65-5. The match was a second round fixture in the 2017 South America C Championship. It took place on neutral territory as this year’s tournament is played in San José, Costa Rica.
Guatemala’s 65-5 victory continues Guatemala’s unbeaten run this year. Los Jaguares defeated Nicaragua on Sunday and had a tournament warm-up victory against El Salvador last month.
Today’s win was, like the former two, impressive. Guatemala dominated play. There back-row was particularly strong, causing Panama problems at the break down throughout the encounter.
The result sees Guatemala undefeated after two matches while Panama is yet to win. Los Diablos lost heavily against Costa Rica on Sunday and will now be chasing a win over Nicaragua on Saturday. The match is to be the Bronze Final.
Panama made history in 2016 by defeating El Salvador. The victory was Panama’s first in history and was a dark moment for El Salvador rugby. Los Torogoces opted against competing in this year’s tournament. This is the case despite Nicaragua debuting. Defeating Los Tiburones is now Panama’s target.
Competing for spot spot of the South American C Championship will be Costa Rica and Guatemala. Both teams go into the final with two big wins from their respective tournament matches this far. Guatemala enters with the favorite’s tag due to having won back-to-back titles in 2015 and 2016.
