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History was made in Asunción on Saturday evening. Colombia’s Súper Liga Americana de Rugby team, Los Cafeteros Pro downed Os Cobras to claim their first professional victory. The 23-17 result gives the Colombians four competition points and the Brazilians a losing bonus point.
Despite the scoreline indicating a close contest, it was Los Cafeteros Pro who controlled the match. The Colombian side gained a strong lead which was eroded with a late interception and followed up by a consolation try. The better team on the day won and Os Cobras did very well to snatch a bonus point when they had looked set to lose by 20 points.
Scoring began late in the first quarter. Cafeteros Pro fly half Julián Hernández put-in a neat cross-kick which Manuel de Marco plucked out of the air to score. Hernández converted to make it a 7-0 lead and Os Cobras were down to 14 with Gabriel Oliveira yellow carded following the try.
The teams returned to level but with 14 not 15 per team. Federico Lavanini was shown a yellow card in the 20th minute. Lucas Tranquez took the opportunity to open Os Cobras’ scoring for the match with a long-range penalty.
Hernández landed a penalty to respond to that of Tranquez. The fly half from Mendoza landed his next to open the second half. Then, Los Cafeteros Pro went 20-3 ahead. Replacement hooker, Boris Wenger finished off a rolling-maul. Hernández converted and landed a 66th minute penalty to make it a 23-3 scoreline.
The big lead was followed by open running rugby from Los Cafeteros Pro. A near intercept was followed by a genuine one with Simon Bienvenu noticing the first opportunity before seizing the second. He was well-positioned to intercept Hernández’ pass and run under the posts from well inside his team’s half to score.
A good break from Joel de Santos gave Os Cobras a late shot at an unlikely comeback victory. Los Cafeteros had no intention of enabling further Cobras’ points. They were able to wind down the clock and seal a historic SLAR victory.
Both teams now travel to the eastern Paraguayan city of Ciudad del Este. Los Cafeteros Pro will face Selknam next Saturday. Os Cobras will take on the Olímpia Lions. Both matches will be at the Estádio Antonio Arando, a stadium located across the river from Brazilian city Foz de Iguaçu.
SCORING
CAFETEROS 23
Tries – M. de Marco (16′), B. Wenger (53′)
Cons – J. Hernández 2/2 (18′, 55′)
Pens – J. Hernández 3/3 (26′, 44′, 66′)
YC – F. Lavanini (20′), M. de Marco (71′)
COBRAS 17
Tries – S. Bienvenu (67′), J. de Santos (72′)
Cons – L. Tranquez 2/2 (68′, 73′)
Pens – L. Tranquez 1/1 (21′)
YC – G. Oliveira (17′), C. Dias (52′)
TEAMS
CAFETEROS PRO
1 Javier Corvalán (capt.), 2 Alvaro Llaver, 3 Daniel Guttierrez, 4 Gregório Hernández, 5 Federico Lavanini, 6 Joaquín Sánchez, 7 Diver Ceballos, 8 Juan Bautista Mernes, 9 Marcos Amorisa, 10 Julián Hernández, 11 Manuel de Marco, 12 Leonardo Gea, 13 Valentín Fernández, 14 Alain Altahona, 15 Eliseo Morales
Replacements: 16 Boris Wenger, 17 Carlos Reyes, 18 Tomás Bertot, 19 Eliseo Fourcade, 20 Felipe Puertas, 21 Julián Navarro, 22 Manuel Alfaro, 23 Andrés Álvarez
COBRAS XV
1 Alexandre Alves, 2 Endy Willian Pinheiro, 3 Mariano Filomeno, 4 Gabriel Paganini, 5 Gabriel Oliveira, 6 Devon Muller, 7 Arthur Bergo (capt.), 8 Matheus Cláudio, 9 Douglas Rauth, 10 Bautista Santamarina, 11 Daniel Lima, 12 Joel dos Santos, 13 Simon Bienvenu, 14 Robson de Morais, 15 Lucas Tranquez
Replacements: 16 Leonardo da Silva, 17 Brendon Pinheiro, 18 Henrique Ferreira, 19 Kauã Oliveira, 20 Cléber Dias, 21 Laurent Bourda-Couhet, 22 Gabriel Quirino, 23 Sergio Luna
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Frank Méndez (Chile)
Assistant Referees: Tomás Bertazza (Argentina) & Andrés Bogado (Paraguay)
TMO: Alejandro Longres (Uruguay)
