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The second of Friday’s Super Rugby Americas two matches was very different to that of the first. Los Dogos and Peñarol competed to a draw in Córdoba while more than one hundred points were scored in Buenos Aires. Los Pampas and Os Cobras put on a exhibition of how to score; seemingly doing so without defensive systems in place.
The home side ran in ten tries, all of which were converted. Score-half Simón Benítez Cruz underlined himself as an Argentina XV prospect with a hat-trick. Center Justo Piccardo also continued his impressive season; his ball-carrying in the mid-field have been unmatched in the league.
Os Cobras ran in six tries. Flanker Matheus Claudio scored two of them, doing so once in each half. His first was the third Cobras try and his second was the last.
Ramiro Gurovich was the first to score. The hooker went low to drive over. Os Cobras responded immediately; João Amaral caught Manuel Nogués. The charge down try was the first example of many defensive blunders.
Piccardo busted up-field to set-up an attack. Los Pampas juggled the ball for Amaral to snatch and launch a counter-attack for Widson Nascimento to score. It was quickly canceled out by the home side with Pumita Benjamín Elisalde throwing a dummy to finish off a set-piece move.
It is not often that a winger bumps off a hooker; however, this is precisely what happened from the kick restart. Bernabé López Fleming rampaged into and over David Müller. He then ran clear before providing an assist try for Simón Benítez Cruz.
Claudio and Piccardo added tries late in the half for either side. It saw the teams leaving the field at half-time with the game poised at 28-19 in favor of the Argentines.
The second-has started similar to how the first-half ended. Pampas winger Bernabé López Fleming and Cobras replacement hooker Endy Willian Pinheiro exchanged tries. Los Pampas then threw caution to the wind. The suicidal decision was fatal. Bruno Heit was tackled less than a meter out from his own try zone and Franco Carrera scored for Os Cobras.
It served as a wake-up call for the Argentines. Four tries came in quick time. First, Benítez Cruz cut open the defense to score. Second, Jerónimo Ulloa went clear and gave an assist try to Joaquín Moro. Third, Moro assisted Tomás Bernasconi in the right corner. Fourth, Benitez Cruz had a free run in down the right touch line.
Matheus Claudio showed his disgust by kicking the ball away. He and Eliseo Chiavassa both scored late tries as the players continued to have ease in finding ways to score tries.
Los Pampas now turn their attention to Peñarol. The top side from the regular season has been rewarded with a home Semi Final. The battle of the Rio de la Plata will take place in Buenos Aires on Saturday, June 08.
| SCORING |
PAMPAS (70)
Try (10) – R Gurovich (7′), B Elizalde (25′), S Benítez Cruz 3 (27′, 54′, 67′), J Piccardo (38′), B López Fleming (42′), J Moro (57′), T Bernasconi (62′), E Chiavassa (75′)
Con (10) – M Nogués 5 (8′, 25′, 28′, 39′, 43′), J de la Vega Mendía 5 (55′, 58′, 63′, 68′, 76′)
COBRAS (38)
Try (6) – J Amaral (11′), W Nascimento (22′), M Claudio 2 (34′, 78′), EW Pinheiro (46′), F Carrera (52′)
Con (4) – J Amaral (23′), L Spago (35′, 47′, 53′)
YC (1) – L Massari Temer (66′)
| LINEUPS |
PAMPAS
1 Renzo Zanella, 2 Ramiro Gurovich, 3 Javier Coronel, 4 Mateo Lorenzo, 5 Rodrigo Fernández Criado, 6 Manuel Bernstein (capt.), 7 Santiago Montagner, 8 Tomás Bernasconi, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 10 Manuel Nogués, 11 Jerónimo Ulloa, 12 Justo Piccardo, 13 Bruno Heit, 14 Bernabé López Fleming, 15 Benjamín Elizalde
Replacements: 16 Valentino Minoyetti, 17 Javier Corvalán, 18 Tomás Rapetti, 19 Joaquín Moro, 20 Eliseo Chiavassa, 21 Eliseo Morales, 22 Joaquín de la Vega Mendía, 23 Marcos Eliçagaray
COBRAS
1 Luciano Gabellieri, 2 David Müller, 3 Francisco Moreno, 4 Franco Carrera, 5 Gabriel Oliveira, 6 Cleber Dias (capt.), 7 Matheus Claudio, 8 Adrio Melo, 9 Lucas Spago, 10 Joao Amaral, 11 Ariel Rodrigues, 12 Lorenzo Massari Temer, 13 Daniel Lima, 14 Widson Nascimento, 15 Agustín Llano
Replacements: 16 Endy William Pinheiro, 17 João Lucas Marino, 18 Levy Marinho, 19 Gabriel Paganini, 20 Helder Bryan Souza Lúcio, 21 Maiki Lemes, 22 Felipe Gonçalves, 23 Robert Ténorio
| MATCH HIGHLIGHTS |
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Gonzalo De Achaval (AR)
Assistants: Simón Larrubia (AR); Luca Solda (AR)
TMO: Marcelo Pilara (AR)
