Dogos Eliminate Selknam

A 33-24 road win by Los Dogos spelt elimination for Selknam. The Chilean side is now out of the play-off’s equation. The Super Rugby Americas 2024 Semi Finalists will be Los Pampas and Los Dogos from Argentina at home. Los Pampas await Peñarol while Los Dogos will take on Yacare.

It came to be as such based on Selknam’s loss on Saturday combined with Peñarol’s highly questionable bonus point claimed in losing 63-25 on Friday. The rules are evidently not perfect as Peñarol conceded 63 consecutive points yet came away with a competition point.

Selknam’s home defeat against Los Dogos leaves the Chileans on 22 competition points. Peñarol has 27 so Selknam will be unable to go above them even with a bonus point win in the final round. The reason for this is that in the event of level competition points, the team which won the regular season matches advances. Peñarol won both 2024 fixtures against Selknam.

Los Dogos dominated the first quarter. The Córdoba side were up early by the tries to zero. Hooker Tomás Bartolini made the most of an advancing maul to break off and score. Good hands saw Mateo Soler entering from fullback for the second try while Lautaro Cipriani finished off a break from Julián Hernández.

Selknam opened their account on 18 minutes. Nicolás Roger put in a kick for José Ignacio Larenas. The most capped Chilean of all-time turned it into a try by gathering and forcing his way into the try zone.

What followed was pure luck. Center Leonardo Gea Salim scored after a fumbled lineout saw scrum-half Agustín Moyano kicking the ball infield. The bounce favored Gea Salim who went over for what was a gift.

Salvador Lues hit-back just before half-time. The Selknam loose head prop took a quick tap and was rewarded with a try. Roger converted for a 26-14 half-time scoreline.

In the second-half the teams were both awarded one penalty try each. There were no other tries. Los Dogos scored from a scrum and Selknam from a maul. It ended in an eleven point win for Selknam. It could have been very different though as Selknam had three players yellow carded in the second-half.

There is one round of the regular season remaining. Los Dogos return to Argentina to face Peãnrol next weekend. Selknam remain in Chile to take-on the American Raptors.

SCORING

SELKNAM (24)
Try (3) – JI Larenas (18′); S Lues (39′); Penalty Try (75′)
Con (3) – N Roger 2 (19′, 40′); No Kick (75′)
Pen (1) – N Roger (42′)
YC (3) – I Delguy (47′); JI Larenas (49′); M López (60′)

DOGOS (33)
Try (5) – T Bartolini (2′); M Soler (10′); L Cipriani (15′); L Gea Salem (25′); Penalty Try (63′)
Con (4) – J Hernández (3′, 11′, 15′); No Kick (63′)
YC (1) – F Molina (75′)

LINEUPS

SELKNAM
1 Salvador Lues, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Iñaki Gurruchaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Alfonso Escobar, 7 Clemente Saavedra (capt.), 8 Raimundo Martínez, 9 Rafael Iriarte, 10 Nicolás Roger, 11 José Ignacio Larenas, 12 Nicolás Saab, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Iñaki Delguy, 15 Marcelo Torrealba

Replacements: 16 Tomás Dussaillant, 17 Simón Donoso, 18 Marco López, 19 Agustín Fernández, 20 Federico Albrisi, 21 Sebastián Bianchi, 22 Rodrigo Araya, 23 Inti Ubeda

DOGOS
1 Boris Wenger, 2 Tomás Bartolini, 3 Octavio Filippa, 4 Lautaro Simes, 5 Franco Molina (capt.), 6 Aitor Bildosola, 7 Lorenzo Colidio, 8 Valentín Cabral, 9 Agustín Moyano, 10 Julián Hernández, 11 Ernesto Guidice, 12 Leonardo Gea Salim, 13 Agustín De Vertiz, 14 Lautaro Cipriani, 15 Mateo Soler

Replacements: 16 Santos Juárez Estrada, 17 Octavio Barbatti, 18 Pedro Delgado Ibáñez 19 Federico Rolotti, 20 Facundo Cardozo, 21 Nicolás Viola , 22 Juan Baronio, 23 Nahuel Romero

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

OFFICIALS

Referee: Tomás Bertazza (AR)
Assistants: Federico Solari (AR); Frank Méndez (CL)
TMO: Ignacio Calle (AR)