Peñarol take SLAR lead with dominant win over Selknam

Peñarol are the undisputed leaders of the Súper Liga Americana de Rugby 2022. The Uruguayan side completed a strong win over Selknam on Friday in Ciudad del Este. The 31-3 victory saw an excellent second half display wherein Peñarol converted a 7-3 half-time lead into a win by a 28 point margin.

The five tries to zero victory sees Peñarol collecting the maximum. Peñarol gain the win and the bonus point while Selknam miss out on competition points.

Playing in Peñarol’s favor was more than just the scoring. Selknam fielded a very understrength side. It was an intentional ploy as many players are presently in Southern Chile preparing for the Rugby World Cup 2023 qualifiers against the USA in July.

The inexperienced Selknam did well in the first half. Francisco Urroz gave Selknam the opening points. His 20th minute shot at goal would be the only score of the evening for the Chilean side.

Peñarol had opportunities early but missed out as Selknam’s defense held firm and Federico Favaro was unable to land an equaling opportunity from the kicking tee. With half-time on the horizon, Peñarol took the lead. It came via a penalty try, the first of two for the match for the Uruguayans.

The first try followed Selknam losing Franco Molina to a yellow card. It was the first of three Selknam forwards to receive the punishment during the match. It worked in favor of Peñarol who had 28 minutes of the second half with a one-man-advantage.

With Molina watching from the sidelines his opposite, Eric Dosantos scored for Peñarol. The try put the Uruguayans in control. Selknam attempted to fight back but over commitment saw a high penalty count.

Possession and territory contributed to Peñarol’s second-half success. Three further tries came with a second penalty try and one to Carlos Deus ensuring a bonus point win. With the result secured, Peñarol’s star player of SLAR 2022, Manuel Ardao finished off an impressive team try.

The win not only places Peñarol above Selknam to now lead SLAR 2022 on their own, it also comes with the next two matches being against the bottom two teams. In short, Peñarol can now focus on their home games in great confidence.

 

SCORING

SELKNAM 3
Pens – F Urroz (20′)
YC – F Molina (38′), S Lues (54′), I Silva (60′)

PEÑAROL 31
Tries – Penalty try 2 (39′, 57′), E Dosantos (44′), C Deus (70′), M Ardao (77′)
Cons – F Favaro 1/1 (45′), N Roger 0/2
Pens – F Favaro 0/2

 

TEAMS

SELKNAM
1 Sebastián Otero, 2 Franco Pechia, 3 Vittorio Lastra, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Franco Molina, 6 Santiago Edwards, 7 Ignacio Silva (capt.), 8 Ernesto Tchimino, 9 Benjamín Videla, 10 Tomás Alvarado, 11 Baltazar Jana, 12 Lucas Fertonani, 13 Clemente Armstrong, 14 Cristobal Game, 15 Francisco Urroz

Replacements: 16 Jorge Delgado, 17 Salvador Lues, 18 Esteban Inostroza, 19 Vicente Fernández, 20 Joaquín Milesi, 21 Lukas Carvallo, 22 Luca Strabucchi, 23 Gaspar Moltedo

PEÑAROL
1 Matías Benítez, 2 Guillermo Pujadas, 3 Juan Echeverría, 4 Eric Dosantos, 5 Nahuel Milan, 6 Lucas Bianchi, 7 Santiago Civetta, 8 Manuel Ardao, 9 Tomás Inciarte, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 11 Mateo Viñals, 12 Andrés Vilaseca (capt.), 13 Felipe Arcos Pérez, 14 Federico Favaro, 15 José Iruleguy

Replacements: 16 Emiliano Faccennini, 17 Mateo Perilo, 18 Mathias Franco, 19 Tomás Etcheverry, 20 Carlos Deus, 21 Santiago Álvarez, 22 Nicolás Roger, 23 Rodrigo Silva

 

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Tomás Bertazza (Argentina)
Assistant Referees: Francisco González (Uruguay); Andrés Bogado (Paraguay)
TMO: Nehuen Jauri Rivero (Argentina)