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In a match dominated by penalties the inferior of the two teams completed a 19-11 victory. Los Dogos’ win pushes the Córdoba side closer to a home Semi Final. Selknam are increasingly in danger of missing out on the play-off’s.
Had Selknam been able to hold it together then they certainly would have won the contest. The Chileans were trying too hard; constantly giving away penalties out of frustration. In addition, the urgency to get upfield and score points saw handling errors time and time again.
Goal-kickers Santiago Videla and Julián Hernández traded early penalties. The Argentine added his second in the 9th minute, doing so after Videla was yellow carded. Francisco Urroz took over the goal-kicking while he was off and made it a 6-6 game after 14 minutes.
The one-man advantage saw Los Dogos on attack. From a lineout in the opposition 22, the ball went to Hernández at first receiver. He cut inside to keep the Selknam defense at bay. Hernández added the conversion and added a penalty late in the half to give his side a ten point lead.
The second half was all about Selknam. The Chileans were close to scoring tries on numerous occasions. A lack of patience was a vital factor with passes going into touch, the ball being knocked-on and the forwards giving away multiple penalties at the ruck and maul while in possession.
A try eventually came with the best player on the field being rewarded. Hooker Diego Escobar barged over to get through a doble tackle and score. Videla missed the kick from a wide angle. The miss would prove fatal.
Los Dogos received two yellow cards in the match. Both went to flanker Efraín Elías with the second seeing his match over. Elías tapped down a pass. He was upset with himself for his deliberate knock-on.
Selknam looked to score again after their try. They certainly got themselves in good fire position. Their discipline again was their achilles’ heal. Their discipline mayhem again saw Los Dogos able to recover. The frustration boiled over with time up. Hernández landed a penalty to see Selknam miss out on a losing bonus point. Pushing and shoving followed as the match ended sour.
Selknam face os Cobras next weekend. Both teams will be eager to improve. Los Dogos host Los Pampas in the Argentine derby.
SCORING
SELKNAM (11)
Try – D Escobar (71′)
Con – S Videla 0/1
Pen – S Videla 1/2 (3′); F Urroz 1/1 (14′)
YC – S Videla (9′)
DOGOS (19)
Try – J Hernández (16′)
Con – J Hernández 1/1 (17′)
Pen – J Hernández 4/4 (7′, 9′, 34′, 80′)
YC – E Elías 2 (49′, 68′)
RC – E Elías (68′)
TEAMS
SELKNAM
1 Salvador Lues, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Esteban Inostroza, 4 Pablo Huete, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Clemente Saavedra, 7 Ignacio Silva, 8 Raimundo Martínez, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Rodrigo Fernández, 11 Santiago Videla (capt.), 12 Pablo Casas, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Gaspar Moltedo, 15 Francisco Urroz
Replacements: 16 Jorge Andrés Delgado, 17 Vittorio Lastra, 18 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 19 Santiago Pedrero, 20 Joaquín Milesi, 21 Lukas Carvallo, 22 Nicolás Herreros, 23 Alfonso Escobar
DOGOS
1 Tomás Bartolini, 2 Boris Wenger, 3 Octavio Ignacio Filippa, 4 Lautaro Simes, 5 Franco Molina (capt.), 6 Aitor Bildosola, 7 Efráin Elías, 8 Ignacio Gandini, 9 Agustín Moyano, 10 Julián Hernández, 11 Ernesto Giudice, 12 Leonardo Gea Salim, 13 Agustín Segura, 14 Lautaro Cipriani, 15 Mateo Soler
Replacements: 16 Roman Pretz, 17 Octavio Barbatti, 18 Ramiro Valdes Iribarren, 19 Gregorio Hernández, 20 Manuel Todaro, 21 Juan Cruz Strada, 22 Juan Bautista Baronio, 23 Faustino Sánchez Valarolo
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Tomás Bertazza (AR)
Assistant Referees: Frank Méndez (CL); Matías Esteban (UY)
TMO: José Ignacio Calle (CL)
