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The regular season of Super Rugby Americas 2024 has come to a close. Selknam, the American Raptors and Os Cobras miss out on the play-off’s. They finished 5th, 6th and 7th respectively. Selknam matched Peñarol with wins and losses, the last of which came in Santiago del Chile on Saturday against the Raptors.
Selknam’s 24-19 victory ended an emotional rollercoaster season. It did not begin in round one; rather, it began in the 2023 Rugby World Cup Warm-Up matches. Chile’s roster was dominated by Selknam players who went on to defend their country at the World Cup for the first-time in history.
Players had a break following the World Cup but only now in May has it all come to a conclusion. This is true in more ways than one for hooker Tomás Dussaillant. He officially retired following the showdown against the Raptors. He did so in style as he scored a conquista for Selknam.
The match itself saw flair from both teams early on. The Raptors were the first to turn chances into points; fullback Francisco Quinn slotted an 8th minute penalty.
The Raptors had further strikes at the try zone only to come up short. They did, however, extend their lead as Quinn slotted a 29th minute penalty for a 6-0 lead. Against this backdrop were tries to Selknam center Domingo Saaedra and fullback Rafael Iriarte. Both were disallowed due to disciplinary problems from the Chileans side.
The Raptors’ two first-half penalties were the only scoring occasions in the opening 40 minutes. The second-half was a different contest. Racing 92 bound hooker Diego Escobar scored three minutes after the re-start. He broke through a tackle from Diego Magno and defeated two other defenders. Nicolás Roger landed the conversion while Marcelo Torrealba slotted a penalty minutes later to put Selknam in front.
The 10-9 lead did not last; Quinn landed two penalties to set-up an interesting final quarter. Selknam’s response came with input from the replacements. Dussaillaint provided the best possible impact. His 65th minute try restored Selknam’s lead.
The final nail in the coffin came four minutes later. While Escobar and Dussaillant had barged over, Nicolás Roger sliced through the defense with finesse. He landed his own conversion to give Selknam a 24-12 lead.
The Raptors ended the contest with a try and a losing bonus point. Replacement scrum-half John Lefevre scored the consolation try for the team from Colorado.
| SCORING |
SELKNAM (24)
Try (3) – D Escobar (43′), T Dussaillant (65′), N Roger (69′)
Con (3) – N Roger 3 (44′, 66′, 70′)
Pen (1) – M Torrealba (49′)
AMERICAN RAPTORS (19)
Try (1) – J Lefevre (76′)
Con (1) – F Quinn (77′)
Pen (4) – F Quinn (8′, 29′, 50′, 61′)
| LINEUPS |
SELKNAM
1 Salvador Lues, 2 Diego Escobar, 3 Iñaki Gurrichaga, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 5 Javier Eissmann, 6 Alfonso Escobar, 7 Clemente Saavedra (capt.), 8 Raimundo Martínez, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 10 Nicolás Roger, 11 José Ignacio Larenas, 12 Nicolás Saab, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 14 Iñaki Delguy, 15 Rafael Iriarte
Replacements: 16 Tomás Dussaillant, 17 Javier Carrasco, 18 Baltazar Gurruchaga, 19 Augusto Sarmiento, 20 Federico Albrisi, 21 Sebastián Bianchi, 22 Rodrigo Araya, 23 Into Ubeda
AMERICAN RAPTORS
1 Ma’aki Muti, 2 Diego Fortuny (capt.), 3 Facundo Pomponio, 4 Javon Camp-Villalovos, 5 Mikey Grandy, 6 Shawn Clark, 7 Jackson Zabierek, 8 Diego Magno, 9 Devereaux Ferris, 10 Rufus McLean, 11 Jacob Hidalgo, 12 Watson Filikitonga, 13 Zachary Hall, 14 Daytwon Sheridan, 15 Francisco Quinn
Replacements: 16 Clay Markoff, 17 Koby Baker, 18 William Crawford, 19 Tommy Clark, 20 Alexander Vanikolo, 21 John Lefevre, 22 Tomi Morani, 23 Patrick Madden
| MATCH HIGHLIGHTS |
| OFFICIALS |
Referee: Mauro Rossi (AR)
Assistants: Sebastián Toledo; Jeremias Volante
TMO: Luis Contreras
