All-Action in explosive Yacare vs Dogos showdown

It was all action in Asunción on Saturday evening. With home advantage Yacare came away with a win that few had anticipated. Up against the Semi Final bound Dogos, Yacare had an explosive start and went on to down the Argentine side 45-29.

With Selknam breathing down the necks of Yacare the Paraguayan side responded. Selknam upset Los Pampas in Buenos Aires on Friday. That result meant that Yacare needed to upset Los Dogos to minimize the possibility of being caught in the standings.

Yacare successfully rose to the occasion. Their bonus point win over Los Dogos sees Yacare now on 29 points. Los Pampas are 3rd on 30 while Selknam are 5th on 22. Yacare’s remaining regular season matches are road matches against Selknam and Los Pampas. Selknam’s pathway to the Semi Finals means the Chilean must beat Yacare and also defeat Peñarol in Montevideo.

The scrum was the backbone of Yacare’s win over Los Dogos. Dominance in this area was a leading factor as to why Yacare were in a strong position at half-time. Los Dogos held a lead. Juan Bautista Baronio’s early penalty came after Felipe Vilagrán had scored a try. Vilagrán’s scored a double in the opening quarter.

Then came the scrum. Yacare’s dominance saw Damián Schneider awarded a string of scrum penalties in their favor. This led to field position and opportunities for points. First, Juan González finished off what the forwards created with his dive in the corner. Then Schneider awarded a penalty try from an advancing 5 meter scrum.

Los Dogos got one back before half-time. Ernesto Giudice planted down the ball in the try zone three minutes from half-time. Second-half tries to Mariano Muntaner, Ignacio Inchauspe and a second penalty try took Yacare out to a 45-8 lead.

Los Dogos were dead and buried. To their credit they fought until the end. The all-action contest saw a string of tries. Three scores in eight minutes to Efraín Elias, Lautaro Cipriani and Boris Wenger secured a losing bonus point. They were not done and wanted more but fell time ran out.

The teams may meet again in the Semi Finals. That possibility will be confirmed in the coming weeks. As the match in Asunción showcased, Super Rugby Americas is an exciting product. The balance of Argentines to Paraguayans in the Yacare line-up appears to be on the money.

 

SCORING

YACARE (45)
Try – F Villagrán 2 (9′, 18′); J González (31′); Penalty Try 2 (34′, 58′); M Muntaner (44′); I Inchauspe (53′)
Con – I Inchauspe 2/3 (19′, 32′); No Kick (34′, 58′); F Cacciabue 1/1 (53′)
Pen – S Urbieta 0/1
YC – F Cacciabue (4′); L Sommer 47′)

DOGOS (29)
Try – E Giudice (37′); E Elias (65′); L Cipriani (69′); B Wenger (34′)
Con – JB Baronio 0/1 ; J Hernández 3/3 (66′, 70′, 74′)
Pen – JB Baronio 1/1 (13′)
YC – L Cipriani (7′); JB Menes (18′); T Bartolini (49′);

TEAMS

YACARE
1 Lucas Noguera Paz, 2 Mariano Muntaner, 3 Facundo Pomponio, 4 Lucas Sommer, 5 Mariano Garcete, 6 Felipe Vilagrán, 7 Felipe Puertas, 8 Juan Cruz Pérez Rachel, 9 Ignacio Inchauspe (capt.), 10 Federico Cacciabue, 11 Juan González, 12 Sebastián Urbieta, 13 Ramiro Amarilla, 14 Arturo López, 15 Estanislao Gómez

Replacements: 16 Emilio Gorostiaga, 17 Julián Martín, 18 Rolando Portillo, 19 Ignacio Martínez, 20 Marcos Riquelme, 21 Estanislao Pregot, 22 Juan David Agudelo, 23 Gianfranco Parodi

DOGOS
1 Tomás Bartolini, 2 Román Pretz, 3 Octavio Ignacio Filippa, 4 Lautaro Simes, 5 Gregorio Hernández, 6 Aitor Bildosola, 7 Ignacio Gandini (capt.), 8 Juan Bautista Mernes, 9 Juan Cruz Strada, 10 Juan Bautista Baronio, 11 Ernesto Giudice, 12 Faustino Sánchez Valarolo, 13 Agustín Segura, 14 Lautaro Cipriani, 15 Mateo Soler

Replacements: 16 Boris Wenger, 17 Francisco Palazzi, 18 Ramiro Valdés Iribarren, 19 Efraín Elias, 20 Valentín Cabral, 21 Agustín Moyano, 22 Julián Hernández, 23 Leonardo Gea Salim

MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Damián Schneider (AR)
Assistant Referees: Federico Solari (AR); Sergio Alvarenga (PY)
TMO: Víctor Silveiro (BR)