Cobras and Raptors Put on Wooden Spoon Thriller in São Paulo

Os Cobras and the American Raptors did it again. Just like their Super Rugby Americas 2023 match in Denver, the teams put on a slobber-knocker in São Paulo. This time the prize was avoiding the wooden spoon. The Raptors came away with a 38-34 triumph in the largest South American city.

The half-time siren went with the teams both having secured bonus points. The first half featured four tries per team with Os Cobras holding a 29-26 lead. The difference was an early penalty; Lucas Spago opened the scoring with a 3rd minute strike.

Sérgio Luna was the first man to score in the try zone. Lucas Spago made it 10-0 but there would be no time to catch one’s breath. Line Latu kick through for Ryan James to chase and score while Ronan Murphy burst off the back of a scrum to go over for the lead. The opening quarter closed with the Raptors on top.

The second quarter saw Os Cobras outscoring the Raptors by three tries to two. Douglas Rauth and Matheus Claudio both scored fortunate tries. The Raptors’ inability to secure the opposition’s kick-off ball proved to be a deadly factor.

Os Cobras also scored through Robson Morais. He burst through for an impressive score to the home side. Camped on the Brazilian tryline, Diego Magno went over for a pick-and-go try. Payton Telea-Ilalio ad the final say to narrow the gap to three points at half-time.

The going was slow in the third quarter. The dead-lock was broken in the 57th minute. A long-range try saw Line Latu scoring for the Raptors. Latu’s try gave the visitors the lead for the first time. A try to Seimou Smith ten minutes later all but sealed the result.

The Cobras appeared shell-shocked. A home loss against the Raptors and the wooden-spoon were not a part of their plans. With one minute remaining Gabriel Oliveira burst over from a quick-tap-penalty. His try was unconverted. There was time for the restart but only just. The Raptors took care of business for the time.

Full-time brought to a close the Super Rugby Americas 2023 regular season. The Raptors and Cobras were eliminated. The play-off’s will take place next weekend. Peñarol host Yacare in Montevideo while Cards will be the setting for the Argentine derby between Los Dogos and Los Pampas.

 

SCORING

COBRAS (34)
Try – S Luna (10′); D Rauth (22′); R Morais (28′); M Cláudio (35′); G Oliveira (79′)
Con – L Spago 3/5 (11′, 23′, 29′)
Pen – L Spago 1/1 (3′)
YC – M Cláudio (17′); A de Melo (18′)

RAPTORS (38)
Try – R James (12′); R Murphy (19′); D Magno (34′); P Telea-Ilalio (38′); L Latu (57′); S Smith (67′)
Con – L González Amorosino 4/5 (12′, 35′, 39′, 68′); L Latu 0/1

 

TEAMS

COBRAS
1 Levy Marinho, 2 Endy Willian Pinheiro, 3 Henrique Ferreira, 4 Gabriel Paganini (capt.), 5 Ben Donald, 6 Adrio de Melo, 7 Matheus Cláudio, 8 André Arruda, 9 Douglas Rauth, 10 Lucas Spago, 11 Alain Altahona, 12 Victor Silva, 13 Robson Morais, 14 Ariel Rodrigues, 15 Daniel Lima

Replacements: 16 Leonardo Silva, 17 Alexandre Alves, 18 Bautista Vidal, 19 Gabriel Oliveira, 20 Donnacha Byrne, 21 Felipe Gonçalves, 22 Facundo Villalba, 23 Sérgio Luna

RAPTORS
1 Payton Telea-Ilalio, 2 Diego Fortuny (capt.), 3 Ma’ake Muti, 4 Diego Magno, 5 Will Crawford, 6 Shawn Clark, 7 Tommy Clark, 8 Ronan Murphy, 9 Ethan McVeigh, 10 Lucas González Amorosino, 11 Seimou Smith, 12 Aki Pulu, 13 Watson Filikitonga, 14 Ryan James, 15 Line Latu

Replacements: 16 Jack Manzo, 17 Sebastian Otero, 18 Juan Echeverría, 19 Max Dacey, 20 Tavius Sykora-Matthess, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Cassh Maluia, 23 Patrick Madden

MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Simón Larrubia (AR)
Assistant Referees: Lucas Saccommano (AR); Nehuén Jauri Rivero (AR)
TMO: Victor Hugo Barboza (BR)