Sensational Selknam end Jaguares XV’s undefeated status

Some thought it would not happen. They were proven wrong this evening in Santiago del Chile. Selknam produced the biggest upset in the three years of the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby. The Chilean SLAR franchise overcame the undefeated Los Jaguares XV 20-10.

Selknam won by scoring more points and also by pressuring Los Jaguares XV. The Chilean side had the better of general play and caused all sorts of problems for the Argentine scrum and lineout.

The opening points were the only points of the first quarter. Matías Garafulic landed a 17th minute penalty. He played the match on the wing, a notable move considering he was regular for Chile and Selknam at inside center in 2021.

Matías Garafulic went on to some 15 points in the match. Selknam’s only other scorer was Martín Sigren. The flanker sliced the defense to touch down in the try zone for the opening try of the contest.  Matías Garafulic converted to give Selknam a 10-0 lead after 27 minutes.

Pressure turned into points for Los Jaguares XV. With rapidly advancing forwards, scrum-half Rafael Irate was able to go over untouched for a 30th minute score. Santiago Mare converted to make it a three-point deficit.

Chile’s impressive fly half was the next man to contribute to the scoring. A well-weighted kick was gathered by Matías Garafulic for a 36th minute try. The scorer converted his own try to make it a 17-7 half-time scoreline.

The 10 point lead from the 40th minute would be replicated at the completion of the 80 minutes. Los Jaguares XV had scoring opportunities only for the Selknam defense to prove to be up to the task. This meant that the only scoring came in the form of penalties from Mare and Matías Garafulic.

It was Matías Garafulic’s 77th minute strike which ended the match as a contest. Selknam were 10 points ahead with little time remaining. The players knew they needed to hold firm just a little longer before it was time to celebrate.

Selknam’s win is a timely reminder to Gary Gold and the USA Eagles of the level to expect from Los Cóndores in July. The USA and Chile meet in a home-and-away series with the winner, on aggregate, qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2023 as Americas 2.

Today’s result means Selknam are level with Los Jaguares XV on the table with 10 points. If Peñarol defeat the Olímpia Lions this weekend then the Uruguayans will go top of SLAR 2022.

 

SCORING

SELKNAM 20
Tries – M. Sigren (25′), M. Garafulic (36′)
Cons – M. Garafulic 2/2 (26′, 37′)
Pens – M. Garafulic 2/3 (17′, 77′)
YC – I. Silva (41′)

JAGUARES 10
Tries – R. Iriarte (30′)
Cons – S. Mare 1/1 (31′)
Pens – S. Mare 1/1 (51′)

 

TEAMS

SELKNAM
1 Javier Carrasco, 2 Tomás Dussaillant, 3 Matías Dittus, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Augusto Sarmiento, 6 Martín Sigren, 7 Raimundo Martínez, 8 Alfonso Escobar, 9 Lukas Carvallo, 10 Rodrigo Fernández, 11 Matías Garafulic, 12 José Larenas, 13 Domingo Saavedra (capt.), 14 Nicolás Garafulic, 15 Juan Zuccarino

Replacements: 16 Franco Pechia, 17 Salvador Lues, 18 Vittorio Lastra, 19 Vicente Fernández, 20 Ignacio Silva, 21 Marcelo Torrealba, 22 Luca Strabucchi, 23 Santiago Edwards

JAGUARES XV
1 Mayco Vivas, 2 Andrea Panzarini, 3 Javier Coronel, 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 5 Rodrigo Fernández Criado, 6 Jerónimo Gómez Vara, 7 Manuel Bernstein, 8 Santiago Ruiz, 9 Rafael Iriate, 10 Santiago Mare, 11 Martín Bogado, 12 Juan Pablo Castro, 13 Agustín Segura, 14 Tomás Cubilla (capt.), 15 Ignacio Mendy

Replacements: 16 Bautista Bernasconi, 17 Santiago Pulella, 18 Lautaro Caro Saisi, 19 Eliseo Chiavassa, 20 Bautista Pedemonte, 21 Joaquín Pellandini, 22 Gerónimo Prisciantelli, 23 Iñaki Delguy

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Francisco González (Uruguay)
Assistant Referees: Felipe Balbontin (Chile) & Andrés Bogado (Paraguay)
TMO: Alejandro Longres (Uruguay)